By Michael Schoettler - Sales Sense Pty Ltd

The King, President or Prime Minister is the leader of the nation. Have you ever heard them referred to as the manager of the nation?
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Management and leadership are often perceived as being one and the same thing (strangely enough - especially by managers!) On the surface, they may seem to be similar but in practice, they are poles apart.

Admiral Grace Hooper, once said: "You don't manage people; you manage things. You lead people".

And, herein lies the difference. Leadership is about leading people. Management is about managing things.

Let's take a look at the seven key attributes that separate a leader from a manager. I've also added some appropriate quotes from great leaders of our times to reinforce these points:

Vision

Vision is not just the power that creates a leader, it is the source of the power that he will use to lift the team.

A leader needs both the ability and willingness to continuously communicate the vision, to provide the group with both its direction and purpose. It is the powerful, compelling and consistent communication of the vision, that provides the organisation with its values, purpose and a clear future. The leader's consistent message creates a unity of purpose and sells the mission throughout the organisation.

"You are never given a dream, without also being given the power to make it true".

Richard Bach

Discipline

Most of us begin life resenting outside control and testing any limits placed on us. But with adulthood, comes the under-standing that self-discipline is the only alternative to being disciplined by others. Leaders have great self-control. Between the peaks of our success, it is our discipline that provides the strength to fight on when we are low.

Michael Jordan, said you have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. Leaders need to know things can be done before they can expect others to do them. It is the power of their expectations that drive the group. Leaders set the standards.

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are".

John Wooden

Honesty

A leader without honesty is powerless. Without creditability or consistency, there can be no effective communication. Everything said or done will be analysed for all the possible motivations, hidden meanings and underlying agendas. Decisions will be revisited and repeatedly analysed in the search for explanations.

The opportunity to take a short cut, to cheat, to take the easy way out, is just around the corner. But there is always a witness. And when the leader confides to their team that they have lied to others in the group, they are telling everyone that they can no longer believe anything without closer examination.

"I have found that being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you're trying to accomplish and what you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish it".

Lee Iacocca

Courage

Courage is not the lack of fear, but feeling it and acting anyway. Don't pretend you don't feel it, because your courage, that is your behaviour, will be the example to your team. Business gains come only with risk and their willingness to take these risks depend on their faith that you will not desert them.

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks, will accomplish nothing in life".

Muhammad Ali

Perseverance

It is a question of commitment. When we have a goal and a plan there will be difficulties. Were these goals selected because they were judged to be easy and will we change our goals if there is any resistance?

Your words are important but it is your behaviour that will be watched. This is an area that generates the folk stories that serve to imprint new arrivals with the culture and expectations of the organisation.

Will you press on to achieve your goal?

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity".

Louis Pasteur

Inspirational

Few managers can do what all leaders must be able to do - inspire their people. The example of their commitment to the vision, mission, strategy and goals, creates the empowering environment to lift the performance of the entire organisation. When their actions are not for personal gain but the group goals, the leader's enthusiasm becomes contagious.

"What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it".

Alexander Graham Bell

Develop Leaders

The leader is not expected to have all the answers or make all the decisions. They are responsible for the public praise and private corrections that help their team to realise their potential. Inevitably the leader will demonstrate their faith in some individuals while they still struggle with self-doubts.

"Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be".

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Michael Schoettler is a professional speaker on Leadership, Team Building and Sales Issues. With a Masters degree in International Management and over 20 years in sales, he has the power to move audiences to action.

You can contact him on:

Phone: (02) 9529 7051
F ax: (02) 9529 7525
E mail: mike@salessense.com.au
Website:www.salessense.com.au