Differences Between a Boss and a Leader

The differences between a boss and a leader are apparent to those who work directly below someone within an organisation. Superiors can make your day miserable, or they can make it absolutely amazing depending on the way they interact. If you are not certain whether you are working for a boss or a leader, check out the differences below to get an in-depth understanding of your current situation.  

Leader coaches employees, Boss drives employees

Leaders coach employees to inspire them to follow their leader’s example. Bosses tend to drive employees instead of directing them. This type of boss does not make a decision, which falls to the employees to work without any guidance and expectations while the manager seats back and wait for results. Leaders frequently provide advice and ideas for their employees. They clearly address the objectives of the whole team, and their actions are focused towards achieving goals. This is a significant difference between coaching a team and directing employees. When employees have confidence in a leader, the team culture will be improved and motivate employees to contribute more.

Good leaders listen to employees first

Great leaders will invest their time listening to their employees first before responding. Leaders understand the significance and incorporating the opinions of others into the decision-making process. Compared to bosses, then to have full control of the conversations. They always expect employees to listen and carry out their orders, with very little to no direction. This type of action is not a good approach towards establishing a team of productive employees who strive to be valued for their knowledge and expertise. 

Leaders are fair to all employees

A fair leader is one who treats every employee in the organisation with respect and fairness. Whereas a Boss frequently sides with favourite employees which can lead to unfair treatment. That also includes investing more time to certain employees over the others, giving more opportunity and benefits. This behaviour will not bode well with the rest of the employees, which will affect the team’s productivity and morale. Leaders that treat everyone with equality, taking up every person’s ideas the same value as everyone else on the team. A fair leader will not let personal preferences get in the way of establishing a positive working environment.

Leaders approaches the work through collaboration and innovation

A Boss tends to take their work from an administrative approach. Besides, being described as a supervisor, the Boss takes a dominating approach to work while expecting workers to follow his or her instructions from start to the end. While being a boss does not mean he or she has to push employees into submission. A great leader would set out the practices because he or she has the expertise and experience to determine the best course of action. A leader will also show support and encourage employees to be as immersed in the work as he or she would be. The initiative would be more collaborative and the workflow will not be as rigid. Leaders will also be part of the hands-on with the work and taking the work as an opportunity to educate and empower employees to strive for the best.

Leaders give credit where is due whereas bosses only take credits

An exceptional leader searches for ways to gain respect from employees and the easiest action is to give credit where it is due. Bosses tend to get tempted into taking credits for things that they did not do. Giving credit is important for enhancing team cohesion and trust, encouraging more and better workplace collaboration. Leaders can symbolically and substantively reward employees that credit each other by crediting those who share the equal spotlight on working projects. 

What other subtle differences that distinguishes between a leader and a boss? Leave us your thoughts on the comment sections below. Head over to Jobstore.com and unveil your next job opportunity.