People think they are good by themselves and all successful projects are done because of them. That is definitely wrong! I will never agree with such a thing. Success depends on a team work, developing people and giving them tasks, which can push them out of a comfort zone. Moreover, success means challenging them every single day. As well as achieving weekly targets and count defeats. Why defeats? Because they give a chance to elaborate better on what works well and what not.

Who is a leader? My approach
I have a specific way of management. I trust people, who I cooperate with and I push for initiative. In the same time take responsibilities for decisions. I claim that is a good way to develop your team fast and make people independent so that they could lead. I recruit a team from scratch, establish sales strategy and execute the progress. Team is very important. But also a true belief in what you do, vision and the things a leader gives.

Last few years I have specialised in creating business processes and checking products on the market.

To give an example, I had a talk with several people under management in business development team in fast growing company. Whenever I asked them, what plans they have for the next months, the most common replies were - ‘I am waiting for my manager order’. It struck me as a really confusing answer, so I decided to ask, why they did not propose any solution or indicate any plans. The answer was ‘a manager knows better. That kind of mentality is really not my thing.

I know you can tell that tasks come from a manager. That is true, but trying to involve people and add leadership management instead of giving orders, is a proper way. People like to be appreciated and have a power to work their own way. We will achieve our target, if we give them some space. It is a long run, not a sprint.

Unfortunately, not all managers are leaders. Some of them have poor leadership qualities and employees follow orders from their managers, because they are obligated to - not necessarily because of being influenced or inspired by the leaders.

What do leaders do?
The primary difference between management and leadership is that leaders do not necessarily hold or occupy a management position. To keep it simple - a leader does not have to be an authority figure in the organization. A leader can be anyone.

Unlike managers - leaders are followed because of their personality, behavior and benefits. A leader personally invests in tasks or projects and demonstrates a high level of passion for the work. Leaders take a great deal of interest in the success of their followers, enabling them to reach their goals. These may not be only organizational goals.

So, let me summarise my ‘smart and simple’ mantra. Managers and leaders are both important. When you find proper qualities in the same person, it is like hitting a professional jackpot. The business sector doesn’t matter – whether it is an e-commerce, adtech, IT consulting, software custom or production company. Targeting progress and success, developing your employees, that is what I call a cornerstone for a real leader.