I imagine that, more than once, many managers and bosses have asked themselves whether they’re just a boss or whether they really have the skills and qualities to practice intelligent leadership. There can be very fine lines that we don’t pay enough attention to. But remember that, as in the great battles of history, when armies sent in “paid soldiers”, those soldiers had many weaknesses, while those who joined freely, out of ideals, led and motivated by great leaders, always ended up becoming a real headache for their opponents. Exactly the same thing happens in business. How can I tell whether I’m a manager or a true leader?
Counting value or creating value?
As a rule, managers tend to count value in their teams, but they don’t add value. We should remember that we’re managing people, and counting value is something we should leave to the administrators. The other day I was reading an example of something that happens in companies: if we ask a diamond cutter to report every 20 minutes on how many stones they’ve cut, the manager is subtracting value, not adding it.
Excessive control and unnecessary meetings are among the biggest wastes of time and productivity in a company.
Are you influential or powerful?
Managers tend to have subordinates, while leaders have followers. There’s a huge difference between respect born of the fear of being fired and respect born of the admiration people feel for us.
How many people come to you over the course of a week to ask for advice? How many people, beyond the usual sucking up, come to you to hear your opinion on a specific company matter? These small gestures from our staff show, to some extent, what they think of us. In the same way, some employees are frightened by their boss’s presence, while others are eager to have them close and learn from them.
Do you look for someone to blame or take your share of it?
Some managers tend to use the pronoun “I” when talking about successes and the pronoun “they” when talking about failures and mistakes. A leader must be willing to take responsibility for their own mistakes and even those of their followers, because that shows teamwork and a gift for leadership.
Humility, understanding and a pleasant personality
Great leaders tend to spend time getting to know as much as they can about the people on their teams. They’re usually very humble and, despite what some people think, they tend to have a cheerful, pleasant personality, because, unlike a “mere boss”, as we explained in an earlier point, they earn respect for the person they really are, not for the position they hold.
Perhaps these four simple points can give you a first idea of whether you’re really on the right track as a leader.
Further reading
Featured image: DiamondLady1, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
