Are you a Leader or a Manager? The success of your business can depend on your answer.  Anyone can be a leader, yes you can, even if the only person you are leading is yourself. The number of followers does not define a leader.

Leadership

There is an old adage that says that leaders are born, not made. It might appear to be the case but Leaders learn a lot of their skills growing up which is why it can appear that they are born leaders. It is never too late to learn leadership skills and some universities actually offer degrees in leadership. But even learning leadership skills will not be of much help unless you choose to be a leader. Leadership is a choice - a commitment to everything that is excellent in you.

A true leader has passion, convictions, and a vision for their business and their life. They live their life with purpose and integrity following their passion. Their ability to demonstrate these traits to others and have them see the same vision and believe in it is what makes a leader. They can inspire others to share the same goal and work towards it. They want to direct the course of future events and take charge. Their leadership ethics and values should be visible because they live them in their actions every single day.

There are basically three theories of how people become leaders:

1. Some people have more personality traits that lead them into leadership roles.
2. A major event, often catastrophic forces them into a leadership role.
3. A person chooses to be a leader and sets about acquiring the skills they lack.

The most common is that a person chooses to be a leader. Words that you often find in describing the values of a leader include ambition, competency, individuality, equality, integrity, service, responsibility, accuracy, respect, dedication, diversity, improvement, enjoyment/fun, loyalty, credibility, honesty, innovativeness, teamwork, excellence, accountability, quality, empowerment, efficiency, dignity, collaboration, stewardship, empathy, accomplishment, courage, wisdom, independence, security, challenge, influence, learning, compassion, friendliness, discipline/order, generosity, persistency, optimism, dependability, and flexibility. Those words can become a great checklist of your own values and if you have the qualities for leadership or can learn them.

A lack of trust in a workplace is frequently a problem. If the leadership publishes their values but doesn't live them, then mistrust will continue. It is when the leadership lives up to and demonstrates their values, lack of trust almost completely disappears and productivity and success will grow.

Anyone can be a leader, even if the only person they are leading is themselves. The number of followers does not define a leader.

There are five main traits of a true leader:

1. Having a Vision - Vision provides direction and without that direction your business will flop around liked a landed fish. Create a Vision Statement for your business which embodies your dreams and your passion.

2. Sharing a Vision - As you share your vision with others it helps you to grow your vision and your leadership skills. It will strengthen your own belief in your vision and your determination to make the vision a reality. Others will start to see you as a leader who is on their way to success.

3. Planning - A true leader plans and analyzes in order to make your vision a reality and adapt to new potentials and opportunities. You are proactive rather than reactive. In other words you try to prevent a crisis rather than wait for one to happen and then react. Leadership can shine when handling an unexpected crisis but proactive planning and analysis are the driving force of a good leader.

4. Taking charge - You are the one who makes the decisions and sees that the appropriate actions are taken to achieve your goals. You can't just talk about leadership, you have to be seen as taking action for the benefit of your business. Actions always speak louder than words.

5. Inspiring through example - If leadership is defined as taking action then it is integrity of those actions that inspire others. Action without integrity behind it is worthless and one cannot be a true leader without integrity in every action.

Manager

A leader is usually a manager as well and a manager can be a leader.

A good manager shares the vision of the leader and inspires the employees he or she manages with the same vision, passion and integrity of the leader. They are a leader in training that can move up in the company or eventually lead their own or another company.

Have you ever noticed that if a company has poor quality leadership it also seems to have a majority of poor managers? Unfortunately, there are a lot of very poor managers. They do not bother or do not want to learn to be a leader. They may have vision but it is totally self-centered. They may have passion but it is not for the company or the mission. Worst of all they lack personal integrity and it shows in their actions.

Almost everyone has at one time or another been lucky enough to have a great manager. They never think any question is too stupid (unless you have asked the same one several times, then they think you are stupid); they act as a mentor and take pride in your successes and make sure you get the credit. They take a personal interest in you but not one that invades your privacy. They show compassion while encouraging you to overcome any personal and professional problems. They trust you to do and be the best you can be and to perform your duties to the best of your abilities. It is a pleasure to work for and with them and you find yourself inspired to learn and grow under their guidance.

Unfortunately, according to several studies dominant personalities are more likely to be promoted into manager positions whether they have the skills or not. Right there is a big loss of integrity. If a person knows they don't have the skills to lead, mentor, and perform the tasks required, they should refuse the promotion. Often they will find that someone sees great potential in them and believe they will grow into the role. However, usually the person will take the promotion knowing they aren't qualified. When they lose that integrity of action they have lost the ability to lead a team, group or department to do well and succeed.
This manager with no values can manifest their lack of skills in several ways.

There is the micromanager who directs and inspects each step of a task and believes that their way is the only way to do it. Because they have no trust in themselves so they have no trust in their employees either. You feel like they are always looking over your shoulder all the time and that they do not trust you, your judgment or your skills. It becomes a very destructive environment and a vicious circle because productivity falls and people are very unhappy in their jobs.

There is the manager who takes credit for what her employees do as if she had done it herself. What a prime example of a person with no integrity. At some point, her lies will catch up with her but usually not before she has done a lot of damage not only to the employees but also to the company. What that kind of manager doesn't understand is that she will really shine when she gives the employees credit and is seen as someone who encourages her employees to grow and succeed.

Then there is the bully manager who believes that her employees should fear her. It is a power play and she cares nothing for them except as a means to an end. What she ends up with are employees who hate her and do as little as possible under her rule.

Lastly, there is the manager who is simply there to collect her paycheck. She gives no guidance, no direction, and blames the employees if productivity and the company suffer.

Needless to say, there are always problem employees but good managers can often bring them around or know when to cut them loose after they try to work with the employees.

Choice

It is you who have to make the choice to be a leader and a good manager. You can learn the skills necessary but if you apply integrity to all of your actions then even if you make poor choices on occasion, you will still be respected.