When trying to come to a conclusion regarding this comparison, I often
get myself confused.
I mistakenly first think about "who is a leader?", rather than "what are
traits and behaviors of leadership?" As a result, I end up forcing clear
boundaries where there aren't any.
I spend most of my time first thinking about leaders, as if there are
people who are always leaders and the rest are always managers. I end up
glorifying the term "leader" with any positive adjective I can think of
till the term is almost messianic: charismatic, noble, wise, gallant,
nurturant, etc.
I usually think about "manager" only after first thinking a lot about
"leader". I tag on a few words like, "Oh yeah, managers. They plan and
organize details all day. They follow the vision of the leaders. They do
things right. Yeah, that's it."
But when I think about traits and behaviors of leadership, I see
leadership at many levels of the organizations I work with, e.g.,
executive levels, middle managers, supervisors and individual
contributors. I see leadership displayed in many roles, e.g., planners
and administrators who are visionary in the jobs, influential,
communicators, confidant, nurturant, etc. There are people who lead when
needed, as well as plan and organize and coordinate when needed.