Am I a Leader or a Manager?

As Leader of the Charlotte Empowering Today's Professionals Networking Group, I often ask myself do I have the qualifications to be a leader? Do I have the qualifications to be a manager?

So How do I Describe Myself? Am I a Leader or a Manager?

So I turned this around and said what would an interviewer ask me? Mrs. Sherman how
would you describe yourself, are a leader or a manager (or a follower).

Now in order for me to respond to this question I need to understand the difference between a leader and a manager.

Management and leadership have very different meanings:

A manager is a title and leader is a function. Management is a position and leadership is a skill.

A leader is someone who leads a team, and becomes a leader because of his or her skills and talents which are higher than the entire group, while a manager is someone who is purposely hired to manage the operation of a team.

A leader is recognized as a leader by his teammates because he or she possess some influential personal traits that affect the group performance and activities.

A leader's function skills can be categorized as follows: Sharing Information, Understanding Needs and Characteristics of the group, Knowing the Resources ,Controlling, Counseling, Setting the Example, Representing, Planning, Evaluating, Sharing leadership and Learning.


What kind of a leader are you? These are the words that describe your leadership characteristics.

Some key personal traits that effectively describe leadership performance are: Initiator, Innovator and Originator, Decision Maker, Listener, Critical Thinker, Coacher, Inspiring, Motivating, Dominating, Goal Oriented and Vision/Planning Abilities.

If you are a leader, or manager, one of things that an effective leader will do is help others to identify their positive qualities, because people that feel good about themselves, will be better team members.

Figure out if you possess some of the above skills and mention them in your answer.

A true leader works with the group.

The corporate world is changing quite quickly, and the general consensus nowadays is that a leader puts in an equal amount of work and works with the group, instead of delegating work to them. This is seen as the perfect way to work today in the corporate world.

Are you having people orientated leadership? Are you ‘people oriented’? It is known that a leader with no people who are willing to follow him (or her) is not a leader. The leader must maintain an effective interpersonal relationship with people resulting in an ongoing and growing network. He or She may present original thinking, sometimes a fresh ideal, a vision or a new path that attracts and motivates others to go after him without hesitations.

Amanda Sherman,
ETP Charlotte Networking Group Leader