Bosses vs Leaders

Who are the bosses? And who are leaders? They sound the same, yes. But are very different kind of people who stand on the same position in our lives at some point in time. We may find and face both of these and still feel a big difference between the two. We all hate our bosses, but we never hate our leaders. That too, totally unaware of it. We look up to our leaders more than our bosses.

But, is one of them bad or good? Yes, for sure, but it's necessary to be both at the required place.

Bosses can be tyrants. They don't care who you are and from where you come. All they care about you is whether you are getting the task done or not. That is all. They do not care how you feel about your job. Whether you understand it or not. Whether you enjoy it or not. Are you happy with your pay or not. What are your other skills? They do not care about any of it. They only care about the completion of the task. They give orders, and you will have to follow, or you might lose your job. They don't wish to participate in the work that you do, as they care about where they stand in your eyes. They are above you in their own eyes and will do everything to make sure you feel smaller than them. And so they never are in a mood to share their knowledge and teach you or help you grow and progress because they fear you becoming their equals. Bosses will make sure they walk ahead of you and be seen first and get all the attention and credit for being a good boss. But they have one weakness they always want to hide. Their so-called desire to be up on top of others makes them live a pseudo-sophisticated life. It makes them predictable. Hence you know what they will do if they face their insecurities, as they have many.

On the other hand, leaders are different. They are unpredictable. How? They care about knowing you more than you knowing them. They don't care what you think of them because they are focused on getting you the correct treatment. Leaders are like good shepherds. They do not care about walking in front of you. They wish to walk behind the herd and make sure they guide you on the right path. A good leader will always be a contributor to the team. He will always be willing to participate with the rest of the team because he knows a lot and wants to share some of that knowledge with you. They happily try to make you grow, like them. Leaders ask personal questions to the team members. So that they can understand if you love your job or if there is some sort of helplessness due to which you are stuck here. Because we all know, when we share our struggles, we feel better and lighter on our shoulders. So leaders try everything they can to lighten that load from you. They don't value maintaining a status more than earning respect. They never put off their stress on you because they know about your pressure, and hence you never know them much. And that is what makes good leaders unpredictable.

Now, where do you be one, and when do you be the other?

You have to be a strict boss if you have a lousy team to handle. If your team is lazy and is unwilling to put in an adequate amount of effort to get a task done. Then you have to be a hard. You have to be strict. You don't have to be rude or abusive. Just be strict. You will be a good boss and a good leader both then. Acting rude is never a positive thing. If you think being rude will make you look more professional and strict, then you are wrong. Your rudeness will only help you lose respect. You can be kind and display authority too.

Good luck.