Their roles are often misunderstood, and to some surprise, they are not the same.
A leader is someone that comes naturally. Someone who built a reputation by having a good connection with the environment, has excellent social interaction skills and is most of all respected. A leader is usually (but not exclusively) not a manager.
On the other side, we have management. The manager is someone who takes care of systematic tasks, for example, human resources and accountancy. Often the part of management is also the low-level employee — for example, a developer, quality assurance and product.
One of the main leadership roles is to empower employees to become good managers and manage their tasks most efficiently, build confidence and responsibilities, and make the right decisions based on their judgements.
One thing leadership shouldn’t do, is tell people what to do and how to do the job. If the developers don’t perform as expected, they most likely need nothing else than training.
Inexperienced leaders cannot resist the temptation of micromanagement and over control.
Everyone is certainly, to some degree, a manager, whether we like it or not. And leaders are no exceptions. Of course, their roles stretch beyond my points, but it is wise to separate the wheat from the chaff when focusing on responsibilities.
I have quite an unpopular opinion about leadership and management — I find them often obstructive, which is typically a sign of their inexperience. The fewer “bosses”, the more productive the environment can be. In more mature environments, there is a trend toward limiting exposure to leadership and instead providing coaches — dedicated professionals who train the workforce.
