How to Distinguish Between a Leader and Team Manager?

leader versus team manager


Whenever we hear about a successful company, two things are always mentioned for being the reason for the success of the whole shebang. These two factors are the great leaders and makings of great talent.


One of the best definitions of a leader out there has to be that the leaders are the ones who envision the strategy of the company and guide the teams to remove all of the obstacles that come before them. It is the same as a coach’s role in sports.


Managers, on the other hand, are more focussed on the execution part of the business. By contrast, the definition of real leadership dictates that a true leader has to provide a clear direction and a compelling vision to travel in that direction.


All of the successful leaders in the world right now, clarify all of their expectations and priorities for a particular endeavor, define all of the roles that their team has to perform in addition to ensuring that all of the activities which they have to perform are in place or not.


Leaders Lead and Managers Execute


As we see in our everyday lives and even in the organizational paradigm, that all of the people that have the leadership position are the ones taking the company or the project further, and managers are the ones that have to execute all of the orders they receive from the leaders above.


But that doesn’t mean that the managers can reach the leadership status by doing their work honestly and effectively. Here are some of the ways you can reach a leadership position from a day-to-day management gig.


1. You need to establish core values and make sure that you follow them


company core values


According to statistics, more than 80 percent of the biggest companies in the world talk very publicly about their core values but they often aren’t followed as advertised.


The benefit of resonating core values is that when they are embedded in the minds of the employees, they are more efficient decision-makers.


For example, if the core value of your company is ‘embrace relationships’, your employees will always opt for long-lasting relationships with the client and not sell out for short-term profits.


To bring value to the company and gain success, the employees need to understand where the whole business is headed and how they need to act their part if they want to lead by example one day. This means that the core values you set for your staff makes them feel more empowered and connected with the company’s essence.


2. Never ignore your professional development


Learn by watching


Often in the organizational culture, we see that leaders assume the responsibility of their staff and not themselves. They are generally more proactive and the managers of the company tend to be more reactive.


So, if you want to be a great leader, then you always have to set aside some time in which you can work on your professional development.


3. Delegate your work




Most of the time, managers tend to do all of the work, even the work of their employees. This has got to stop and you need to delegate your work otherwise you’ll burn out and you would be useless to everyone.


Taking the example of any good leader, they will always focus on the tasks that require their utmost attention and they would leave the rest of the work to others who are more suited to those tasks.


Try the following exercise to know which work you should delegate to your team:

  • Find out how many hours you can put into your work and still stay afloat.
  • Calculate the amount of time you need to perform all of your vital tasks. If the answer to this is more than 100% of the maximum number of hours you are willing to work, then you should delegate the work.
  • Make a list of everything you do in a single working day.
  • You need to create two columns. In column 1, you need to place all of the activities you love to do or you’re good at doing them and put everything else in the other column.
  • The last step is to stop doing everything in column 2 or delegate everything to your team.


Management has undergone rapid changes since the inception of the millennial generation. We don’t use the old-school methods anymore because of various reasons. Regardless, if you have been a leader, or found yourself in a manager’s position, what worked best for you? Do share your input through the comments section below. Alternatively, you can also write to us at


Ready to up your game with nTask?
