The Difference Between Individual Contributor, Manager, & Leader

All organizations need strong individual contributors, managers, and most definitely leaders. What’s not articulated is what it takes to be successful in each role. How does one transition between them? Speaking from experience, it doesn’t happen seamlessly. Simply put, “What got you here won’t get you there.” Meaning the skills that made you successful in one role are not the same skills that will make you successful in the next role. I struggled with this early in my career as I was tapped to take on larger roles with little preparation, and have seen others do so as well. It’s an easy trap to fall into, as the rational thought is, “I got promoted due to my successful history. I’ll simply keep doing the same and success will follow.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. The key is to know which skills to take with you and which to leave behind, and most importantly, which new skills to acquire.

The Individual Contributor, the rock star, the untouchable, the one carrying the company, etc. The key here is discipline in your own actions. Your responsibility is to deliver on what YOU said you would deliver. The key variable is YOU. Ambitious people excel quickly in this role. Important traits are timeliness, order, structure, focus on deliverables, and a keen lack of interest on improving your environment. Organizations love individual contributors, because they can be counted on, and they’re often top sales people (read rainmaker $$) The irony is, management takes the skills of the rainmaker and thinks that if they just put that person in charge of others, the magic dust will rub off. The opposite is often true. Individual contributors make the worst managers. Why? Because most of the skills that made them a great individual contributor make them a terrible manager. The energy must go from making themselves the best they can be to making others the best they can be – different skill set.

As a Manager, you’re no longer judged on how well YOU do, but on how well your TEAM does. This is a huge mental shift. One that most people fail the first time out. You instinctively want and expect your team to be as good as you are, or at the very least want to be. This is rarely the case. People are unique. As a manager, your role is to find out what makes them tick. To learn about their needs, fears and wants. This takes time. Time that, as an individual contributor, you spent “doing.” As a manager, it feels like a waste of time; it’s not. And more important, it is the only way to ramp up a solid team. The team has to trust you. They have to believe you will make them more money, save them time, and help them grow. As a manager, your role is to find out how to get the team singing the same tune. It’s your job to make sure things get done, and the team feels empowered, as individuals and as part of the larger team. It is interpersonal skills and empathy on steroids. Good managers are hard to find, it takes years to become one. A successful manager has people breaking down the door to work for them, because they know he/she “gets” them. Jack Welch, greatest manager of all time.

Good leaders are rare. This role is about vision. You must have a knack for seeing around corners, for knowing what “next” is before others do, and communicating that more effectively than anyone else. A leader is made by followers. People follow passion and intelligence. Having both requires an endless thirst for knowledge and inspiration. A leader must understand that people come to work for much more than their daily task. They want to change the world. Leaders translate their organizations' work into digestible bits that matter to their team members. A leader is generous. They must have others interests in mind other than their own. This is not easy. Most people cannot get away from their own needs, or think beyond the next quarter’s earnings. The ability to communicate a vision, execute on that vision, manage risk, and have empathy makes a great leader. Zappos leadership transformed the role of a customer service representative into changing the way retail does business. That is leadership.