Brooke Eger  

Mrs. Godfrey  
Honors Leadership 
September 18, 2019  
Manager v.s Leader 

Differences Between Managers and Leaders  

1. Leaders believe, encourage, challenge, and correct those that they are leading 

while managers simply instruct people without inspiring change  

2. Leaders develop followers while managers manage people and things  

3. Leaders develop other leaders while managers have subordinates  

4. Managers are about stability while leaders want change and to break rules 

5. Managers plan details while leaders set direction for followers 

6. Managers execute the culture that they live in while leaders strive to shape the 

culture and use their own ideas to influence things/people 

7. Managers avoid conflict and want things to be run smoothly and efficiently 

while leaders realize their cant be changed without conflict and failure in life 

8. Managers tend to take credit from those who work for them while a leader 

would give credit to those who helped them and made a change 

9. Managers make decisions for people and expect them to be followed while 

leaders facilitate with their followers and look for new approaches and ideas on 

certain subjects 

10. The style of how they act is different because leaders are transformational and 

want to make a change and transform the people they work with, while 

managers do one task at a time only doing what if required of them  

 11. Leaders are trustworthy and committed, and managers are problem solvers 

who think about things in the future 

12. Leaders create vision while managers create goals  

13. Leaders are in it for the long haul, while managers think short term and what 

benefits them instead of others 

Real Word examples of Managers and Leaders 

(1) Example of a real world manager 

● A real world manager could be as simple as a manager for a restaurant. That 

manager at the restaurant has the responsibility to tell other people what to do 

and make an executive decision about things. That manager does not have time 

to be able to include others in discussions and help lead them. The manager 

would want to make sure everything is being done in an effective manner with 

as little conflict as possible. 

(2) Example of Leader 

● An example of a leader would be someone like Oprah Winfrey. Oprah uses her 

life experiences and amazing public speaking to help teach and lead others. She 

is also someone who sees a vision of how things should be and won't stop until 

that vision is fulfilled. Her ability to connect with people and help shape them is 

what makes her a great leader in our society.  

Sources:  

● Video:  

○ https://www.projectmanager.com/training/leadership-vs-management  
● 2 Websites:  

○ https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2016/11/15/9-differences-be

tween-being-a-leader-and-a-manager/#4426ac954609  

○ https://www.inc.com/partners-in-leadership/what-is-difference-betwee

n-managers-leaders.html