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Business executive vs business leader

The differences between business executives and business leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a business executive and a business leader. Additionally, a business leader has an average salary of $90,430, which is higher than the $63,101 average annual salary of a business executive.

The top three skills for a business executive include customer service, customer satisfaction and revenue growth. The most important skills for a business leader are analytics, project management, and customer service.

Business executive vs business leader overview

Business ExecutiveBusiness Leader
Yearly salary$63,101$90,430
Hourly rate$30.34$43.48
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs138,097117,296
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4444
Years of experience66

What does a business executive do?

The duties of a business executive depend upon their position and industry of employment. In general, they are in charge of spearheading and overseeing business operations to ensure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They typically have the power to make corporate decisions, set goals and budgets, establish guidelines and timelines, negotiate with potential business partners, and develop business strategies to optimize overall operations. Moreover, a business executive implements and promotes company policies and regulations, creating new ones as needed.

What does a business leader do?

Business Leaders are considered trailblazers in their field. They are innovative thinkers who often introduce solutions to their industry's challenges. They inspire people pursuing careers in their field and even those outside the industry to strive harder and create their paths to success. Employees often look up to Business Leaders, which is why they must be motivating. They also oversee their business operations and often set long-term targets and strategies to achieve these targets. They think outside the box to set their business apart from their competitors.

Business executive vs business leader salary

Business executives and business leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.

Business ExecutiveBusiness Leader
Average salary$63,101$90,430
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $135,000Between $56,000 And $145,000
Highest paying CityAlbany, NYNew York, NY
Highest paying stateNew YorkNew York
Best paying companyThe Walt Disney CompanyLyft
Best paying industry-Pharmaceutical

Differences between business executive and business leader education

There are a few differences between a business executive and a business leader in terms of educational background:

Business ExecutiveBusiness Leader
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Business executive vs business leader demographics

Here are the differences between business executives' and business leaders' demographics:

Business ExecutiveBusiness Leader
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 59.9% Female, 40.1%Male, 64.4% Female, 35.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between business executive and business leader duties and responsibilities

Business executive example responsibilities.

  • Manage origination initiatives associate with business accounts, treasury products, and loans while adhering to bank compliance procedures.
  • Consult with businesses to supply accurate product and service information in healthcare territory.
  • Utilize visualization techniques, forecasting, modeling, statistical analysis, and predictive analytics to design and maintain internal business solutions.
  • Require extensive knowledge of trusts, annuities, mutual funds, stocks, capital markets and mortgages.

Business leader example responsibilities.

  • Create and manage SharePoint portal site for SFA department.
  • Lead process and results metric development for all components of Medicaid business system.
  • Develop project plans, project status reports, manage the team and resolve day-to-day issues with emphasis on SDLC.
  • Set up a governance document to be share throughout all of department which outline how SharePoint would be manage.
  • Manage sales and technical group to complete a custom online shopping system and CRM system for digital and print products.
  • Utilize GMP to manage department budgets for capital expenses, spare parts, tools, and yearly contracts with outside vendors.
  • Show more

Business executive vs business leader skills

Common business executive skills
  • Customer Service, 22%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 12%
  • Revenue Growth, 10%
  • Emerging Technologies, 8%
  • Healthcare, 5%
  • Business Development, 5%
Common business leader skills
  • Analytics, 9%
  • Project Management, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Business Development, 6%
  • Lean Six Sigma, 4%
  • Continuous Improvement, 4%

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