Manager vs.

Leader 
List of 10-15 differences between a leader and a manager 
1. Leaders believe in others, encourage others, correct others, and challenge others to be and 
do more, but managers only care about their numbers and transactions 
2. Leaders have equals, while managers have subordinates 
3. Managers follow existing roads and value stability while leaders make new roads and value 
changes. 
4. Managers only execute for the numbers but leaders shape culture and the future of others 
5. Managers always take credit while leaders give credit to others 
6. Leaders develop followers that stay with them even if they no longer have a title or any 
authority, while managers make people feel managed and only have people that work ​for 
them rather than with them. 
7. Managers follow a vision and tell others to execute it while leaders make their own vision 
and execute it themselves, whether or not others follow 
8. Managers have the ability to direct others while leaders have the ability to coach/challenge 
others.  
9. Leaders are driven by a mission and not a task. 
10. Leaders take risks and “think out of the box” while managers control risks and “follow the 
books” 
11. Leaders create trust with their followers and managers use their authority to manage their 
employees 
12. Managers count value while leaders create value 
13. Leaders spread their influence while managers spread their power.  
 
Create a real world example of a manager, and one example of a leader: 
An example of a real-world manager would be Miranda Priestly from ​The Devil Wears Prada​. 
She is a perfect example of a manager in this movie because she makes everyone’s lives miserable 
and she only manages things, she doesn’t lead people. Nothing Andrea did was ever good enough 
for iranda, proving another manager trait that managers only have subordinates and not equals. An 
example of a leader would be Coach Boone in the movie ​Remember The Titans​. Throughout the whole 
film, Coach Boone never took the easy route, but he took the route that led to the vision he saw for 
the boys on the team. He was driven by a mission and not just a task. The coach led the boys and 
made them respect, admire, and believe in his vision and goal for them, making him a perfect leader 
and not a manager.  
 
Sources of my own: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_HHnEROy_w&t=1s 
https://www.projectmanager.com/training/leadership-vs-management 
https://hbr.org/2013/08/tests-of-a-leadership-transiti