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District leader vs general manager

The differences between district leaders and general 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 district leader and a general manager. Additionally, a district leader has an average salary of $79,496, which is higher than the $71,581 average annual salary of a general manager.

The top three skills for a district leader include customer service, sales presentations and direct reports. The most important skills for a general manager are customer service, cleanliness, and food safety.

District leader vs general manager overview

District LeaderGeneral Manager
Yearly salary$79,496$71,581
Hourly rate$38.22$34.41
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs117,708442,690
Job satisfaction-4.25
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age4444
Years of experience66

What does a district leader do?

The duties of a district leader depend on their line of work or industry of employment. However, their responsibilities typically include setting goals and guidelines, managing different offices, reviewing regular progress reports, coordinating managers, liaising with internal and external parties, and developing strategies to optimize services and operations. They must also respond to issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and professionally. Moreover, a district leader must lead and encourage staff to reach goals, all while implementing the organization's policies and regulations.

What does a general manager do?

A general manager is responsible for handling the overall operations in the business. General managers manage the staff tasks efficiently, monitor the productivity and efficiency of the work environment, implement new strategies to improve the business performance, recognize the team's best efforts, and effective allocation of budget resources. A general manager must have excellent communication, decision-making, and critical-thinking skills to identify areas of improvement in handling customer complaints, connecting with vendors and other lines of businesses that will direct the company towards its successful objectives.

District leader vs general manager salary

District leaders and general managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

District LeaderGeneral Manager
Average salary$79,496$71,581
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $141,000Between $40,000 And $126,000
Highest paying CityNorfolk, VASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateConnecticutHawaii
Best paying companyVertex PharmaceuticalsNVIDIA
Best paying industryHospitalityManufacturing

Differences between district leader and general manager education

There are a few differences between a district leader and a general manager in terms of educational background:

District LeaderGeneral Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

District leader vs general manager demographics

Here are the differences between district leaders' and general managers' demographics:

District LeaderGeneral Manager
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 60.1% Female, 39.9%Male, 70.7% Female, 29.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between district leader and general manager duties and responsibilities

District leader example responsibilities.

  • Serve as multi-unit manager, responsible for motivating and developing coworkers to achieve results that increase overall profitability of company.
  • Train and mentore peer DM's, corporate executives and company trainers in both one on one and classroom situations.
  • Partner with POS programmers to develop and test new interface, new menu groupings and new products for next generation POS.
  • Provide leadership to commodity specialists and buyers including commodity planning and negotiations.
  • Coordinate community and youth educational events to promote leadership, environmental stewardship and economic prosperity in collaboration with regional government agencies.
  • Attain 92nd percentile in monthly operational KPI and quality measurements through relentless pursuit of productivity and process improvement.

General manager example responsibilities.

  • Generate positive EBITDA and improve cash flow by managing costs and inventory.
  • Manage all recruiting and training efforts, and develop systems to track ROI comparison results.
  • Work as a FOH AGM and train to manage all staff functions including training, hiring, food and labor controls.
  • Develop yearly budget for multiple hotels that include revenue, labor, fix and variable costs to achieve overall EBITDA goal.
  • Task primarily with building logistics infrastructure, managing operational expenses, and supporting start up strategies.
  • Train and manage FOH staff and improve overall quality, organization and professionalism of restaurant and bakery.
  • Show more

District leader vs general manager skills

Common district leader skills
  • Customer Service, 37%
  • Sales Presentations, 12%
  • Direct Reports, 10%
  • Develop Strong Relationships, 6%
  • Brand Development, 5%
  • Loss Prevention, 3%
Common general manager skills
  • Customer Service, 20%
  • Cleanliness, 18%
  • Food Safety, 7%
  • Guest Service, 4%
  • Payroll, 4%
  • Math, 4%

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