The Difference Between a Sales Manager and a Sales Leader

Leaders can be found anywhere. Many people are strong and popular, but only a few are worthy of being followed—those who go out of their way to fulfill commitments, behave ethically, set a good example, exhibit justice, act with humility, show confidence, and display trust.

Leaders are the individuals people can rely on.

People want to be led without being told to do so. A successful company owner must be a great leader and manager in order to bring their staff on board with their vision of success. Let’s dig deeper into the insights on becoming the best leader possible.

Difference Between a Leader and a Manager

Leadership is about persuading others to understand and believe in your vision and to collaborate with you to accomplish your objectives, while management is more about administration and ensuring that day-to-day operations run smoothly.

Strong leaders exhibit the following qualities:

  • Honesty and integrity are essential in getting your employees to trust you and buy into the trip you’re leading them on.
  • Vision to identify where you are, where you want to go, and engage your team in charting a course for the future.
  • Inspire your team to be the best they can be by making sure they understand their position in the larger picture.
  • Ability to challenge the current status quo, to do things differently, and to think outside the box.
  • Good communication to keep your team updated on the trip, where you are, where you are going, and any obstacles you may face along the way.

Meanwhile, managers have the following characteristics:

  • Being able to execute a vision by taking a strategic vision and breaking it down into a roadmap for the team to follow.
  • Ability to direct the team’s day-to-day work efforts, reviewing resources required, and anticipating needs along the way.
  • Establish work norms, processes, standards, and operational procedures via process management.
  • People-centered where they take care of people’s needs, listen to them, and engage them.

You must get your employees to agree with your vision and align their views and behaviors to engage them in delivering the greatest service to your visitors, clients, or partners.

Also, as leaders or managers, you must pique your employees’ interest in where you are going with them while also ensuring that they understand what’s in it for them.

The difficulty with smaller companies is to make sure that you are both leading your team and managing your day-to-day operations. Those who can accomplish both gain a competitive edge.

So, are you both a leader and a manager? What would your employees say if you asked them?

How True Leaders Act

Here are some examples of how some of the great leaders conduct their business and live their lives. Consider which of the following you are currently performing well and where you need improvement:

  • A leader worth following leads with integrity. True leaders demonstrate that you can achieve success by doing the right thing. Their principles are permanently engraved in their own being, as natural inclinations that never grow stale or out of style, rather than neatly adapted to suit a specific circumstance.
  • A good leader sets a good example. True leaders don’t ask others to accomplish what they are unwilling to undertake themselves. Their deeds, not just their words, demonstrate their leadership. They hold themselves as accountable as those they lead.
  • A leader worth following is fair. True leaders are fair to everyone. It’s a must. They recognize that fairness is the capacity to rise above one’s own biases and treat everyone equally.
  • A good leader leads with humility. True leaders understand that humility is concerned with what is right, that it leads to strength rather than weakness, and that it is the balance of power. Leading from a place of humility is the greatest kind of self-respect.
  • A leader worth following inspires others to achieve their best. True leaders guide and encourage others’ achievements by ensuring that everyone is functioning at their best, completing the job they are supposed to accomplish, and doing it with perfection.
  • A good leader inspires others to succeed simply by believing in them, bringing out the best in them, and developing their confidence in return.
  • A leader worth following inspires trust. True leaders are competent, dependable, and consistent, and as a result, they attract followers who are devoted and show them tremendous respect. They lead through trust rather than power or control.
  • A leader worth following is self-assured. True leaders are self-assured and courageous. They stare fear in the face and challenge it because they know that where their heart is, there is where their confidence resides.
  • Most importantly, a leader worth following understands that leadership is, after all, a privilege and that what they think, say, and do has a tremendous effect on people around them.

Wrapping Up

Leading from inside is a privilege and making oneself worthy of being followed entails a tremendous deal of responsibility. It implies you have the ability to inspire others to dream bigger, study more, accomplish more, and be more. Being a leader is most important when the position is taken seriously and used to make a difference.

Ready to unleash the leader in you?


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About the Author: Amy O'Connor

As one of the most in-demand sales training consultants in North America today, Amy O’Connor brings a decade’s worth of industry experience and knowledge, along with a fresh female perspective on leadership, to her impactful and enlightening seminars.