The increasing industrial rivalry and changing dynamics of the business world have made almost every market extremely volatile. Firms require exceptional individuals to lead, manage, and control them to make sustainable choices that lead up to unprecedented growth. Today, organizations don’t only need managers, but leaders who can innovate processes, motivate teams, and overcome challenges.
While managers commit to being a bridge between the firm and its stakeholder, leaders are the ones who encourage them towards achieving the organizational goals. Managers perform the managerial operations without which it would be impossible for an organization to function. But leaders ensure that every corporate activity positively influences the growth of the business without holding onto an authoritative position. Given this reason, every leader might not be a manager, but every manager should become an effective leader.
Leaders execute their roles by leveraging a specific skill set, which isn’t everybody’s forte. It requires devotion and passion for becoming a leader who is there to motivate rather than only manage a team of workers.
So, let’s discuss some of the critical skills and qualities that differentiate business leaders from managers:
Visionary
Leaders have exceptional ideas about the organization’s long-term goals, and they communicate this vision to their team effectively. They see every possibility that could present itself as an opportunity for the business and choose the best resource to turn that vision into a reality. What’s more, they possess a keen eye for discerning critical success factors and accordingly set SMART objectives.
As a leader, one should know when to manage and when to lead in business to facilitate the right people and accomplish the organizational goals effectively. These individuals can think innovatively, and this trait empowers imagination and creativity in their teams. On the other hand, managers only control the situations evident to them to reach set objectives within set boundaries and structures. But leaders motivate their teams to achieve something more significant than their expectations.
Risk-Takers
Leaders are unafraid to fail and fall because they know they can always rise back up. A significant trait of leaders is that they take risks and willingly explore unchartered territories. They aren’t irrational as these risks are continuously measured and in favor of the organization. In today’s era, leaders know that the road to success is highly dependent on accepting failures as they come. As an entrepreneur, it’s essential to find novel ideas and take risks to turn them into a reality, and leaders execute this role efficiently.
Managers are more focused on driving the risk away from their organizational activities and tend to minimize operations that don’t guarantee a hundred percent success. Despite their risk appetite to protect the business, they avoid problems and are unwilling to take risks. On the other hand, leaders enable their people to adapt to the changing situations, making it easier for the organization to bounce back in case of failure. They have in-depth knowledge and analytical skills that help make their organizations proactive. In this regard, their critical thinking abilities allow them to realize the key factors and consequences of their decisions, helping them make informed choices.
Life-Long Learners
An essential leadership quality is expanding one’s intellectual horizon and incorporating everyday lessons into overall core values. Leaders understand the importance of self-development and remain curious about new and emerging information surrounding them. They are life-long learners and recognize the significance of continuing education. For this purpose, they seek out details from complex situations and comprehend the relevant factors, allowing them to become more critical and analytical.
Nowadays, leaders try to learn something new every day and don’t refrain from interacting with people of diverse backgrounds to expand their knowledge. Managers, in contrast, often keep polishing the same skills that made them successful and try to implement proven methods in the organization. Unlike managers, leaders are not authority figures. As a result, they can freely move among the team members and absorb as much information or knowledge as they desire.
Networking Skills
Leadership skills and traits are more people-based than organization-based, and that’s what differentiates them from managers. Leaders understand the importance of their interpersonal roles and maintain a one-on-one relationship with all their team members. They spend time analyzing the behavioral patterns of their stakeholders, especially customers and investors. In return, they use this analysis to design strategies that fuel further growth and expansion. Leaders are exceptional at networking because they aren’t hypocritical and take responsibility for their actions. Practical communication skills are just the cherry on top.
Meanwhile, managers emphasize maintaining the system’s structure and following a set path of specific rules to reach desired outcomes. Their focus is aligned with the organizational objectives. Hence, they tend to lead their teams in a similar direction by delegating work and supervision. Leaders, however, develop communicative channels where the other person’s feedback is just as important.
Inspirational
As a manager, one might not think of it as their responsibility to enable growth in their employees. They will be more focused on delegating and directing the work and controlling the team to get them to work as efficiently as possible. On the other hand, a true leader knows and acknowledges a group of followers behind them. They go beyond their set limit of requirements and commit to motivating their followers and helping them achieve self-growth. They directly influence the attitude and behavior of the employees, which ultimately impacts their performance at work.
Leaders are influential individuals and have fervent supporters who improve their image as credible and reliable professionals. Leaders encourage change in the behavior of their people, helping them unearth their true potential and motivating them to improve their performance at work. Likewise, leaders strive to maintain work-life balance for their team members instead of plunging them into stress and burnout.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, leaders have significantly distinctive traits than regular managers. Their interpersonal skills allow them to inspire and motivate those who work under or alongside them. They continuously strive to achieve organizational goals while keeping each employee’s personal goals in mind. What’s more, their unique visionary approach, networking skills, and risk-taking abilities enable them to bring positive changes to their organization and the overall community. Besides, to survive in today’s dynamic world, organizations require the skills and expertise of visionary leaders.
