Are You a Leader or a Manager? Part 1
As a fitness business entrepreneur, sometimes you’ve got to be both a leader and a manager.
While people tend to pair the words leadership and management together, they are two very separate concepts that compliment one another. It is important to understand the meaning of each, so that they can be used in tandem to create an individual who is able to be an effective leader as well as a good manager. By fusing these two very different aspects into one effective strategy, a person will be able to get more out a group of people than if they simply focused on being just a leader or manager.
A leader is a person who is capable of seeing a vision and carrying a group of people toward a common goal. Leaders focus on the people in the group and work and ensure that everyone is motivated and determined. People who are leaders take the time to motivate their team and strive to keep everyone involved in a positive mood. While a manager is more focused on rules and regulations that have already been established, a leader will challenge them if they are not a good fit for the individuals involved. A person who is a leader centers around the people that they work with and thinks about methods to getting those people performing at the best of their ability.
A manager is an individual who sees the goals ahead and is aware of what needs to be done in order to accomplish them. While a leader focuses on the people that are in the group, the manager determines what action needs to be taken in order to succeed. A manager is someone that can work with a group of people and assign tasks to individuals that can get the job done, while coaching those that are not doing their part. A manager will examine the facts and see what needs to be changed in order to meet the deadline or standards. Leaders will challenge rules that they think are not going to work for their group or tem while managers expect the team to be capable of meeting the standards regardless of who is on the team.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Please share some of your personal experiences with me and tell me how you lead your team.