You don’t need to manage people in order to be a leader.
A leader is “a person who has commanding authority or influence“ [^1].
Your manager is the person in charge of evaluating your performance.
Leadership comes in many forms. I find it helpful to focus on leadership as influence.
Some people want to become managers in order to increase their influence. While being a manager does help you exert more influence, you’ll likely need to display leadership traits in order to become a manager.
Workshop
- Write down a list of people around you that you consider leaders (meaning they have influence on what gets done or how it gets done). Circle the ones that are not in your direct management line (your manager, their manager, and so on).
- Write down two or three examples where you were influenced by someone who is not in your direct management line.