During the past week, the most difficult topic for my team was to distinguish the line between a manager and a leader. From the very start, it was clear that this is something that many of us will benefit in the future. This is important if we plan to work as a leaders or managers. The process of gaining leaderships skills cannot come over night, and it requires a strong personality. The leaders are the ones who carry a large burden and responsibility. On the other side, the managerial skills should not be underestimated as well. Even though the managers are focused on the short term results, they are the ones that manage the work flow, keep the employees satisfied and motivated.
A person can become a successful manager or a leader without being formally educated. One of many things that managers and leaders have in common is that they enjoy the confidence of the workers. In the past week, I realized that it is a two-side way and that starting from a highly motivated worker, thought manager that ensures the workflow and quality assurance, and finally to the leader who is the most responsible, they all depend on each other. The leaders are the ones that gather good ideas and are responsible for the final result. There are many leaders that proved to be good at their jobs, and I would like to emphasize Terry Samuel. He was a CEO in Yahoo from 2001-2007 (Vozza). According to Stephanie Vozza (2013), "One year after he took the helm, Yahoo earned $43 million in revenue; the previous year had ended in a $93 million loss". This is just a proof how can the right leader change and promote the company's image.
When my team and I look back on the previous week, we cannot but wish to become managers and leaders of some small company and slowly build it brick by brick into a successful company. The things that puzzled us the most were the relationships and the fields of responsibility of leaders and manager. We hope that, along the way we will be able to adopt the needed knowledge to become the best in our future jobs.
Reference:
Vozza, Stephanie. 22 February 2013. Ten Inspiration Leaders Who Turned Around Their Companies. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225890
