Managers versus Leaders

I have been wondering - what's the difference. I hear about so many B-schools opening in India, about graduates getting salaries equivalent to those they'll be paid if they were to graduate from any of the top schools in the world. But, how many of these managers are actually leaders? Are these schools churning out leaders or managers? Are these schools serving the society by creating leaders or are these schools making money for their trust or owners by creating managers? In truth how many of the graduates of these schools are leaders ? But before I pass an opinion on these schools, how is a leader different from a manager?

I was confused by the difference between managers and leaders. What makes an individual a manager and what makes an individual a leader? In my experience, a manager is a person who can envision, plan and execute. Then what does a leader do and how is the leader different from a manager? While reading the biographies of some great leaders some traits appear to be common to all of them - leadership is taking a step forward when 99.9% of the reasons are against that step. Leaders anyways take that step. Call it faith in themselves, or the invisible and the unknown but leaders rise above the ordinary reality. Managers wait till there is 99.9% certainity and then execute their plans. Does it mean that managers do not have faith in themselves, the unknown and the invisible - well may be or may be not - but certainly most managers accept their own limitations.

Leaders are not stopped by opposition, resistance, discouragement, multiple no etc. Most leaders persist and believe in their vision and their work. The stories of Vinobha Bhave, Ela Bhatt, Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Gandhi are inspiring. Managers persist till they find some workable solution or till the time persistence makes sense.

Leaders put interest of others before their own self interest. I don't know what managers do, but I am certain that true leaders are motivated by much more than their own self-interest.

I am still studying this topic and will keep adding to this post as I find more points.