How to Differentiate Between Managers and Leaders

The success of any business depends on having both capable managers and dedicated leaders. While most outstanding leaders also have superior management skills, not all managers possess true leadership skills. It's important to differentiate real leaders from within the ranks of competent managers so that your business grows and evolves over time. Leaders are the guardians of a company's future, and identifying and positioning leaders within your business structure is crucial to its success.

Instructions

Assess the Skills of Employees in Management Positions

1. Discuss the vision for the company. Managers are more concerned with executing the day-to-day functions of a company, but leaders think long term. Employees who do not have a vision for the company or cannot communicate one effectively will not be good leaders.

2. Monitor how employees work within a team environment. Being able to collaborate with others both above and below you is an important part of being a leader. Good leaders welcome other people's ideas, foster an environment where people feel free to share their opinions and then choose between those opinions effectively.

3. Require managers to be evaluated by those under their commands. Inspiring others to do their best work is an essential leadership skill. Good leaders are able to train, develop and motivate those under their purviews.

4. Use self-evaluation methods to determine if managers are able to learn from their mistakes. By making your managers report on their own performances regularly to their superiors, you can gauge whether or not each manager is continually learning from experience. Good leaders are always willing to learn from both successes and failures and differentiate between courses of action that should and should not be repeated.

5. Allow the missteps of an employee to illuminate leadership capabilities. True leaders accept responsibility for their decisions no matter what the outcome. Those who pass blame to others do not display accountability, an important leadership quality.

6. Keep track of hiring decisions. Good leaders are able to differentiate quickly between good employees and bad employees. If a manager consistently hires people who don't work well with the company, that is an indicator of poor leadership skills.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't limit your search for leaders to employees in the highest-ranked positions. Leaders can be found at all rungs on the corporate ladder, and identifying leadership talent in employees in lower positions is a great way to develop human resources from within your organization.

• Don't get rid of managers just because they do not exhibit good leadership skills. Managers who are task-oriented, detailed and reliable are as important to managing the everyday operations of a business as leaders are to creating a vision for the business.