Anton Guinea
Entrepreneur, Speaker, bestselling author, and founder of The Guinea Group of Companies. For over 15 years, Anton has helped leaders move their teams to become psychologically safe, physically safe and overall better versions of themselves.
Have you ever wondered if you’re truly leading your team, or simply managing tasks?
Throughout my years of experience coaching leaders across Australia, I’ve often seen confusion between being a leader and being a manager. They’re both important roles, but trust me—they’re not the same. Today, let’s clear this up once and for all.
Managing Tasks or Leading People
Managers organise work. They coordinate, delegate, and ensure the job gets done. Leaders, though, inspire and motivate their teams. They don’t just give orders—they influence, encourage, and lift people up. True leadership comes from emotional connection rather than positional authority.
Management tends to be transactional. Leaders build relationships. A great example is the ability of a leader to cultivate genuine trust, which becomes the cornerstone of effective leadership. I explore this further in my article on building trust.
For more insights into how leaders differ from managers, you might want to read this insightful piece from BetterUp.
Inspiring Action or Supervising Processes
Managers focus on rules, guidelines, and structured processes. They keep everything organised and on schedule, essential for smooth business function. Leaders, meanwhile, see themselves as guides, motivating people towards shared goals and visions, creating environments where teams feel psychologically safe and encouraged to innovate.
Leaders who prioritise emotional intelligence and psychological safety create high-performing teams. If you’re curious about emotional intelligence in leadership, I cover it extensively in another article.
Ownership and Accountability
Managers delegate tasks and ensure compliance. Leaders take full ownership of outcomes—even when things go wrong. Accountability isn’t something leaders just expect from teams; it’s something they model themselves. Leadership is about taking responsibility. I delve deeper into this in my article about taking ownership in leadership decisions.
Vision vs Execution
Managers excel at executing a given plan, maintaining consistency. Leaders set the vision and direction, crafting strategies and inspiring teams towards exciting futures. Managers ensure business efficiency today, while leaders focus on tomorrow. Balancing both is tough but essential.
Here’s another great resource from Forbes on how vision and execution differ between leaders and managers.
Emotion, Inspiration, and Motivation
Leadership connects emotionally. Managing is logic-based, while leadership taps into human emotion, motivation, and inspiration. Leaders help their teams feel valued and understood, inspiring action through genuine care and empathy.
Motivation alone isn’t enough; inspiring through genuine relationships matters more. To explore this further, see my article on motivation versus inspiration.
Finding Your Balance
Reflect honestly: Are you managing your team’s workflow, or truly leading them?
If unsure, let’s chat. Reach out via my contact page, and we can turn you from manager to genuine leader.
Your Next Steps
- Reflect on your current role—are you leading or managing?
- Identify one area to shift towards inspirational leadership.
- Commit to growing your emotional intelligence.
Remember, great leadership changes lives—including yours.
Please click the image below if you’d like to chat about what leadership means to you
If you would like to learn more about Anton or The Guinea Group, please click here to book into Anton’s calendar, to:
UPGRADE your Mindset
UPSKILL your Leadership
UPLIFT your Teams