Leadership vs. Management

The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them. As a Supervisor or Director for an organization, sometimes one must determine which one to use as they both have their benefits.

By definition, managers have subordinates - unless their title is honorary and given as a mark of seniority, in which case the title is a misnomer and their power over others is other than formal authority. Leaders do not have subordinates - at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders do have subordinates, but only because they are also managers. But when they want to lead, they have to give up formal authoritarian control, because to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity.

For more information, please see Leadership vs. Management article.