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Business leader vs senior manager

The differences between business leaders and senior managers 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 leader and a senior manager. Additionally, a senior manager has an average salary of $118,906, which is higher than the $90,430 average annual salary of a business leader.

The top three skills for a business leader include analytics, project management and customer service. The most important skills for a senior manager are analytics, project management, and portfolio.

Business leader vs senior manager overview

Business LeaderSenior Manager
Yearly salary$90,430$118,906
Hourly rate$43.48$57.17
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs117,296372,801
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4444
Years of experience66

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.

What does a senior manager do?

A senior manager is responsible for directing the overall efficiency of business operations. Senior managers monitor the performance of the staff, improve operational strategies, identify business opportunities, allocate budgets and resources, present reports to senior management, set goals to drive results on increasing the company's revenues and profitability. Senior managers must coordinate with various operations departments to maintain good feedback for the company, meeting client's expectations, and delivering the best results. They should have excellent communication and leadership skills to handle team members, as well as managing their needs and concerns.

Business leader vs senior manager salary

Business leaders and senior managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Business LeaderSenior Manager
Average salary$90,430$118,906
Salary rangeBetween $56,000 And $145,000Between $86,000 And $163,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew YorkNew Jersey
Best paying companyLyftCornerstone Research
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalProfessional

Differences between business leader and senior manager education

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

Business LeaderSenior Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Business leader vs senior manager demographics

Here are the differences between business leaders' and senior managers' demographics:

Business LeaderSenior Manager
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 64.4% Female, 35.6%Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5%
Race ratioBlack 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%Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between business leader and senior manager duties and responsibilities

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

Senior manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead ISO project to achieve ISO compliance for the organization.
  • Implement a PeopleSoft Financials system and lead the integration team.
  • Manage the VMS, UNIX and NT operating systems and hardware.
  • Manage multiple trading application development and integration projects for TT's API customers.
  • Work with internal and external audit to manage SOX controls testing, compliance issues and corrective actions.
  • Coordinate and manage the monthly and quarterly close process, including quarterly check list for SOX compliance.
  • Show more

Business leader vs senior manager skills

Common business leader skills
  • Analytics, 9%
  • Project Management, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Business Development, 6%
  • Lean Six Sigma, 4%
  • Continuous Improvement, 4%
Common senior manager skills
  • Analytics, 9%
  • Project Management, 6%
  • Portfolio, 5%
  • Business Development, 4%
  • Professional Development, 4%
  • Healthcare, 3%

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