Are you a manager or leader

Marketing Definitions
Are you a manager or leader?

To find out, let's start with the Oxford English Dictionary:

Manager: 'A person controlling or administering a business.'

Leader: 'A person who causes others to go with him, by guiding and showing the way; guides by persuasion and argument.'

And a quote that provides a useful comparison:

"Leadership is often confused with other things, specifically management. As I see it, leadership revolves around vision, ideas, direction, and has more to do with inspiring people as to direction and goals than with day-to-day implementation. One can't lead unless one can leverage more than his own capabilities . . . You have to be capable of inspiring other people to do things without actually sitting on top of them with a checklist - that's management, not leadership."
John Sculley

Notice the difference in the words being used - controlling, sitting on top of someone, administering, as opposed to causes . . . . by guiding, showing the way, inspiring, direction, goals.

To focus this even more, let's look at a list of contrasting words that describe even more fully the differences between managers and leaders.

MANAGERS administer are a copy maintain systems/structure focus control short-term how/when bottom line imitate accept good soldier do things right

LEADERS innovate are an original develop people focus trust long-range what/why horizon originate challenge own person do the right thing

John Adair, a British leadership guru, continued to explore these distinctions by going back to the etymological roots of the two words.

Lead is from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning a road, a way, a path. It's knowing what the next step is. Managing is from the Latin, manus, a hand. It's about handling, and is closely linked with the idea of machines and came to prominence in the 19th century, as engineers and accountants emerged to run what had previously been entrepreneurial businesses.

Adair goes on to make another distinction - managers can be appointed, leaders must be ratified in the hearts and the minds of those who work for them.

In a stable and highly structured environment it is managers who will excel. In dynamic environments - where change is rapid and there are few points of reference - it is leadership that is needed.

Look at the attributes in the two lists above, and ask yourself:

Which are most critical to achieving success, in the situation I am in?
How do I match up to them?