“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things” -says Management Coach Peter F. Drucker.
Leadership is the ability of an individual or a group of people to guide and influence followers or members of an organization, society or team. Leaders share their opinion and motivate others to achieve something new and better.
Leaders do what they do in order to pursue innovation, not as an obligation. They measure success by looking at the team’s achievements and learning.
This corresponds with the growth mindset. Good leaders do have a growth mindset.
Management is about delegating responsibilities and getting people to follow the rules, reduce risk and deliver more or less predictable outcome. A manager is responsible for planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Managers – different from leaders – do not challenge the status quo. They rather strive to maintain it. They evaluate success by checking if the team has achieved the set goal.
Leaders on the other hand focus on motivating people. They concentrate on the personal development of their team besides working towards achieving organizational goals. They envision their team’s future growth and work towards it. Growth, growth mindset!
A good manager does not necessarily have to be a good leader as behaviors making a person a good manager do not always go with innovation, learning and personal development.
Leaders are not always people who hold higher ranks in an organization. They are people known for their beliefs and work ethics. A leader is passionate about his work and they pass on this enthusiasm to their employees and colleagues, helping them to achieve their goals.
Leaders have certain traits, they are directed towards growth and development. Their qualities embrace:
- Honesty, transparency and integrity
- Inspiration and vision
- Communication skills
- Resilience
- Intuitive and positive
- Empathy
- Objective
- Open minded and creative
- Patience and goodwill
- Flexible
- Focus, passion and drive
- Feedback
Analyze the above qualities in yourself. Some may be intrinsically present, others may have to be developed further more. Great leaders work on themselves, they evaluate themselves with a realistic approach, they always try to become better leaders.
Even though there is a common guideline and trait, leaders differentiate in types of leadership. You may think you don’t have one, but you do. Which one do you belong to? Which one would you want to belong to?
Awareness is the base for every improvement.
If you want to improve your leadership skills start by understanding how you are leading or how you would want to lead:
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The authoritarian leadership (autocratic)
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The aprticipative leadership (democratic)
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Delegative leadership (laissez-faire)
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Transactional leadership (managerial)
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Transformational leadership (visionary)
To become an effective leader you need to know which qualities you have, which to develop and which leadership style you naturally follow based on your strengths and weaknesses.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - Simon Sinek