1. The key message from the video was discussing the differences between a manager and a leader. Managers demand authority, set expectations, monitor progress, and use tools such as fear, shame and anger to get results from employees. Leaders on the other hand, do not demand authority but instead inspire others to follow them by taking responsibility, making decisions and willing to be wrong and learn from mistakes. Leaders seek voluntary enrollment. Leaders provide the compass to point their team in the right direction even when there is no map to get them there. Leaders look for processes that work using "possibility" as the fuel to strive for innovation. Managers are concerned with Quality, meetings specs, and doing what they are supposed to in terms of set standards and adhering to those. Leaders are more concerned with "excellence" and solving interesting problems even when it's not on your agenda. Leaders are about change. When designing a new product or new process, leaders ask, " Who is the design for? Leaders are specific. And what is the design for? what changes are being made and again, they are specific about what needs to be changed. The video also spoke about soft skills or as the speaker in the video, Seth Godin, say "real skills" are an attitude and skills that can be learned. He states that empathy is the path to customer traction. A leader puts himself or herself into the shoes of the customer and wants to understand what are the struggles so that a leader can take ownership of those issues in order to drive closure. A leader knows that all things are possible, and once you know it is possible, a leader can be responsible for it. He spoke about good decisions and "sunken costs" or the enemy of good decisions.
2. The differences between a manager and a leader are quite obvious in the workforce. Managers tend to adhere to strict authoritarianism assigning tasks, deadlines, holding people accountable. Leaders tend to inspire their employees to think outside the box and empower their teams to do great things by taking risks, learning from mistakes, and develop new processes that drive innovation. In my line of work, I have seen both managers and leaders. The morale in the group I was in with a strict manager was very low however, the manager did drive results. The group I was in with a great leader was completely different culture and the morale was very high and the productivity of the group was very high.
4. I think a good approach is to have traits of both a leader and a manager. A fundamental part of management is setting expectations for the team, creating strategic goals, monitoring progress, and holding the team accountable. However, the use of soft skills such as communication style, management style, should be flexible to what works best for each individual on the team. Empathy and coaching the team along the way as well as celebrating small wins via recognition, lunches, etc. goes a long way toward building trust and building relationships between not only the manager and the team members but also brings the team members closer together. Another good strategy is to share the vision for the team. Show the benefits of going down a particular path and get support from the team before embarking down that journey. Employees want to feel empowered and part of the solution. When that happens, productivity rises, morale rises, and employees are more likely to stay at their job because they feel valued.

Form a personal and insightful response to this discussion in full detail.