Episode 4. Boss vs. Leader: What's the Difference and Why Should You Care?
DEFINING BOSSES AND LEADERS
Boss: a boss is a person who employs others and/or functions as a traditional manager. They are held responsible for an individual, team or business. It is a function of power.
If you have employees you are a boss.
Leader: to lead means “to go with or show the way”... the nuance there is important. While a boss manages, a leader guides.
If you have employees you are a boss, but you may or may not actually be considered a leader by your team.
3 MAJOR DIFFERENCES
Difference #1: A boss has authority, a leader has influence.
Leaders aren’t given their influence. It doesn’t come to you automatically when you start your business. Being a leader is a sacred honor and you have to work for it. Think about the leaders that you look up to. They inspire you and motivate. They have influence over you… and you gave it to them! That’s what I want you to remember when you’re thinking about whether you’re showing up as a leader.
Ask Yourself: Have you done anything lately that would make your team members look up you you as a leader? Do you inspire them? Do you motivate them?
Difference #2: Bosses focus on the work, leaders focus on the people.
When I say bosses focus on the work, I’m referring to their role in the day-to-day management of your team. This includes those daily tasks that need accountability. It is making sure timelines are followed and deliverables are getting to clients. This is important work.
Here’s the thing. After hiring a team, this is the daily management that makes your business work. And the work always needs to get done, okay? But, there’s an interesting thing that can happen as your business scales and grows. If you decide the daily management of your team is not your thing, you can hire a COO or an OBM to take on this part of the business. They can fulfill the tasks that bosses have to.
On the other hand, as a leader, you can’t just focus on the work… you have to focus on your people. I promise you, this is a distinction that matters. Instead of every conversation being around the work that needs to get done, leaders take the time to make sure their team is engaged, empowered, and crushing their professional goals. This is something that you do NOT want to outsource, my friend.
Difference #3: Bosses delegate tasks, leaders delegate authority.
When you’re delegating tasks to your team day-to-day… you’re functioning as a boss. And again, I want to make the point that this is not a bad thing! This is a critical part of work! But, simply delegating tasks and telling your team exactly what to do and when to do it is not really what dreams are made of. If that’s the extent of how work gets done in your business, how different is working for you really different than working in a traditional 9:5?
Did you know that autonomy and having the power to lead yourself is a major driver for your teams success? As an entrepreneur, I’m sure you know how good it feels to have a degree of control over how you work. It’s empowering. And research shows that we care about autonomy at work more than anything! As a leader, you want to give your people autonomy by delegating authority. So what does that look like for you? When you’re acting as a leader, you want use what you know about your team members skillsets to choose opportunities for them to shine.
MY HOPE FOR YOU
My hope for you is that, of course, you fulfill the responsibilities of being a boss. And if you hate the daily management you outsource that to an OBM or even a COO. But, ultimately, I hope that the spirit of leadership has sparked something in you. When you really step into leading intentionally, you’re going to create magic in your business.
