Even though people often interchange the words leader and manager, in real practice, the roles these individuals have–and subsequently, the skill sets necessary–are very different. Leaders provide innovation and direction, taking risks and inspiring others. Managers, by contrast, are responsible for handling some or all of the resources available in the business. They provide the clear, logistical plans necessary to move to a chosen vision, keeping things stable and organized. They are essential to developing and maintaining individual and corporate integrity through their examples and policies. Understanding this, it is a rare individual who can serve in both capacities. If you want to be an entrepreneur, however, you must.

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The Need for Leadership

Leadership is, perhaps, the core foundation of entrepreneurship. If you do not look around you with a creative spirit, questioning what’s possible and recognizing current needs, ideas don’t generate. Without an idea, there’s no basis for an enterprise. The creativity found in leaders is also what allows entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles in surprising ways, keeping the business able to compete. Furthermore, it is the vision of the leader that attracts and motivates employees, which is especially important in the beginning stages when getting through operations can be challenging.

The Need for Management

A business that is just getting on its feet usually has very few resources to work with. Regardless of how awesome the idea behind the corporation might be, money is scarcer, and tools aren’t as easy to obtain, upgrade and fix. As a result, the entrepreneur must approach what is done with those resources much more critically to ensure that nothing is wasted and investments pay off. Research and planning–management skills–both are essential in this regard. In a new company, it takes time for others to get on board, and for at least a while, the entrepreneur may have no one else available to delegate these tasks to. He often has to accept these responsibilities by default if he wants the enterprise to continue.

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From the Investor’s Perspective

Even though few people can be both leaders and managers at the same time, guess what investors are after: a picture not only of what you want to do (your vision, leadership) but also of exactly how you plan to do it (your methods, management). If you cannot provide this, you simply won’t get funded, bottom line. In this sense, as an entrepreneur, you have to show your ability to approach both sides of the equation practically from day one, even if you plan to later focus on one area or the other once the business is more established.

Considerations

Good balance between leadership and management is what dictates the success of an office or entire corporation. Even so, as financial belts have tightened, many companies no longer can afford to let individuals focus simply on being a leader or being a manager. They want people who can serve in both capacities, and so the number of entrepreneurs being hired is high, effectively changing the face of the contemporary office.

Conclusion

When you want to start a business, it’s best if you can both lead and manage. If you cannot do so, it becomes much more difficult to secure investments and progress in a competitive way. Even businesses that are already established are recognizing the benefits of having individuals with both skill sets, bringing a form of entrepreneurialism into many offices around the world.

About Sqeeqee.Com and It’s CEO, Jenny Q. Ta

Jenny Q. Ta is a seasoned entrepreneur with two successful venture exits in her portfolio. She has 20 years of Wall Street experience, specializing specifically in the technology sector. Jenny holds an MBA degree in Financial Management and a BS in MIS. She founded and managed her first startup, Vantage Investments, a broker-dealer managing more than $250 million in assets and later founded Titan Securities, a full-service investment firm.

Sqeeqee.com, which is free to join, is an innovative social commerce platform designed to enable its members of individuals, business entities, start-ups, celebrities, politicians, and non-profit organizations to begin moving toward their goals by providing the ability to monetize their social presence, while also establishing long-lasting connections that can assist them in reaching their networthing™ goals. Sqeeqee differentiates itself by creating a new action-oriented online platform that unites worldwide users through a single hub. The site’s innovative system allows users to make money doing what they already do online: building a network of associates, post status updates, share pictures, host videos and browse pages in line with their interests.