Difference between a Leader and a Boss

Be a leader not boss: 

We all have come across or used the catchphrase, like a boss, many times. But, have you ever realized the catchphrase is always a part of a troll? Yes, no one says ‘like a leader’ for a meme. But, why is it so? After all, when we search synonyms for ‘boss’ the list always includes ‘leader. It is because they might be same in the theoretical meaning but they stand apart in practical. 

A boss is whose orders you follow, and the leader is who leads you while working with you. When the term ‘boss’ is coined, one imagines a person in prim-and-proper clothes, a hard masked face, an arrogant attitude, and a yearn for luxury. On the other hand, when we call someone a ‘leader’, we recall a person who is compassionate, hard-working, and who might sit with your group to share lunch.

“Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says ‘go’- a leader says ‘let’s go’. ~E.M. Kelly

For a better understanding, below are the points to understand the difference between a ‘Boss’ and a ‘Leader’.

* Works With vs. Works Without

A boss will never work with his team because he has never learned to come out of his ‘comfort zone’ and treat his employees like employees, not slaves. He is best as ‘barking out’ orders’. He wants work done, simple and short. Whereas, a leader knows what a team is because he forms it. He becomes the leader because he knows how to lead a group while maintaining harmony and showing people way. He also wants work to be done, but he does ‘teamwork’. 

* Listen vs. Command 

For a leader, getting a feedback for his work or a plan is very important. He wants to discuss things with his workers; genuinely wants to listen to what his team has to say, have a healthy and lucrative debate. Whereas, a boss pedals his business by giving out commands. He likes to know that he is the ‘chief’. They give order and wants it to be obeyed. 

* I vs. We  

A boss is self-centric. He can’t understand why his ‘workers’ deserves due for the ‘work they have done’. After all, he gave them the order, and they are ‘under’ him. So, why do they want praises? On the second thought, why do they even expect it? After all, He is a Boss, so he does things like a boss. A leader, on the other hand, is a compassionate personality. He understands that ‘he is not the only one’ who has completed the task, it is the hard-work of his whole team. He shares credit rather than take it. 

* Drudgery vs. Growing 

Workers who have a boss, believe that work is synonymous to drudgery. They can never get the chance to explore themselves. A boss is strict and thrives on the fear of his workers, because, according to him, one can only draw out work when the other person ‘fears’ you. Whereas, a leader makes sure that his team is ‘growing’ with the ‘growth of his company.’ A leader is respected not feared. He does not yell or abase his employees for mistakes, he motivates them to learn from it. He knows how to take a hold of a situation without sounding rude or controlling someone. 

* Responsibility vs. Blaming 

A leader is aware of his responsibilities. He understands the fact that, failure is not only of his workers, he has a fair share in it. He understands that failure is inevitable and rather blaming it on others he accepts it and learns from it. He analyse with his team where have they gone wrong, and motivate them to be better. On the opposite, a boss thinks himself a ‘know-it-all’. Failure to him is a smack on his face by his ‘rivals’ only because of the lack of efforts displayed by his workers. 

* Rivalry vs. Competitors  

The boss of a company sees people of the same industry as ‘rivals’. He believes in the axiom he has made everything is fair in war and rivalry, which hardly do him any benefit rather such people generally becomes the patient of insomnia in their obsession of showing him the best. Whereas, a leader sees people of the same industry as ‘competitors’. He learns from them, and appreciates their work ethics. His competitors motivate him to be better.

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