{"id":435,"date":"2015-02-04T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T10:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=435"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-a-leader-and-a-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/whats-the-difference-between-a-leader-and-a-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the difference between a leader and a boss?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leadership is an endlessly fascinating topic because it\u2019s one of those things that we recognize when we see it in action, but it\u2019s frustratingly difficult to define or quantify in terms we can all agree upon.\u00a0 What does a great leader do that a not-so-great leader doesn\u2019t do?\u00a0 What does a not-so-great leader do that a great leader avoids doing?\u00a0 All we know for sure is that in organizations of all kinds . . . businesses, charitable organizations, civic organizations, units of government . . . if two or more people are involved, leadership will be required to carry out whatever their mission is.\u00a0 So when I heard a presentation lately devoted to leadership, I found the speaker\u2019s central theme very interesting:
\nNot everyone in a position of authority is a leader (although arguably they should be), nor does a leader need to be in a position of authority to demonstrate good leadership.\u00a0 Leaders can\u2019t be appointed nor can leadership be bestowed . . . it is a life choice people make for themselves to either accept that responsibility or avoid it.<\/em><\/p>\n

For some thoughts on what separates true leaders from people who are merely in \u201cleadership positions,\u201d please read below.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople ask the difference between a leader and a boss.\u00a0 The leader leads and the boss drives.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0– Theodore Roosevelt<\/p>\n

I think we all know that good leaders can be found throughout an organization, from the very top to the very bottom and everywhere in between.\u00a0 Unfortunately, non-leaders who somehow got themselves into positions of authority can often be found there as well.\u00a0 So how do we sort the wheat from the chaff, the genuine leaders from the pretenders? While you might argue that leadership is somewhat situational . . . that a leader on a battlefield is not necessarily the leader you\u2019d want in the Boardroom . . . at the 50,000 foot level, I think we can discern certain characteristics that all leaders hold in common.<\/p>\n

Leaders are consistent.<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0It\u2019s hard to follow someone who is zig zagging all over the place.\u00a0 Followers will get lost when a leader\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 is constantly changing direction or changing priorities.
\n\u2022\u00a0Leaders are also consistent in the way they maintain their composure . . . tough to have confidence in someone who \u201closes it\u201d whenever there\u2019s a\u00a0 bump in the road.
\n\u2022\u00a0And leaders are consistent in the way they apply rules and policies . . . they don\u2019t play favorites or\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 enforce rules selectively.<\/p>\n

Leaders are dependable, trustworthy.<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0They do what they say they\u2019ll do and do it within the timeframe they commit to.
\n\u2022\u00a0When they are unable to deliver on a commitment, they will notify everyone affected as early as possible.<\/p>\n

Leaders are responsible.<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0They don\u2019t try to shift blame when something under their control goes wrong.
\n\u2022\u00a0They don\u2019t try to make excuses.<\/p>\n

Leaders are unselfish.<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0They always make their own interests subordinate to the \u201cgreater good\u201d of their organization
\n\u2022\u00a0They never try to take or share credit for someone else\u2019s work.
\n\u2022\u00a0They accept the responsibility of being guide and mentor to those in their care.
\n\u2022\u00a0They will be the first line of defense when their people need to be defended.\u00a0 He or she will always have\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 their back.\u00a0 He or she will always offer help when asked.<\/p>\n

Leaders\u00a0are good communicators.<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0They operate by the \u201cDoctrine of No Surprises,\u201d up the chain of command and down.
\n\u2022\u00a0They listen.\u00a0 They show dignity and respect to their people by taking seriously their thoughts, ideas, and\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 concerns.<\/p>\n

Where leadership is concerned, these are the BIG FIVE for me.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure we could list some other attributes we\u2019d like to see in a leader, but these transcend the battlefield and the boardroom.\u00a0 And I think we can agree that anyone exhibiting these traits is a leader. The CEO could have these attributes, but so could the janitor who has authority over nothing more than the cleaning supplies . . . vastly different stations within their organization, but still both leaders.<\/p>\n

Nothing new here, right?\u00a0 That is, these have been the fundamental tenets of leadership throughout modern times.\u00a0 But maybe we need to be reminded of them from time to time, and maybe we need to make sure that we haven\u2019t allowed a \u201cboss\u201d to creep into one of our leadership positions.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve talked here only recently about the powerful influence managers and supervisors have over the job satisfaction of the people in their care.\u00a0 If you feel that the morale, energy, and commitment of your people is very high, you can thank the leadership skills of your managers and supervisors for that.\u00a0 If you feel that the morale, energy, and commitment of your people is not what you want it to be, you can thank your managers and supervisors for that too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leadership is an endlessly fascinating topic because it\u2019s one of those things that we recognize when we see it in action, but it\u2019s frustratingly difficult to define or quantify in terms we can all agree upon.\u00a0 What does a great leader do that a not-so-great leader doesn\u2019t do?\u00a0 What does a not-so-great leader do that<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,33,26,25,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":902,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions\/902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}