What Are the Characteristics of a Good Manager?
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD MANAGER?
The first words that come to mind when thinking about management are “plan, organize, coordinate and control” (Mintzberg 1989, p.9) as Henry Fayol first laid them down in 1916. These are the four things that a manager is supposed to do. In my opinion, they tend to generalize and describe vaguely a manager’s job. In spite of this fact, there are a number of characteristics that can be depicted from them.
The qualities of a good manager should concern whether he can organize people rather than focus on his individual characteristics. I don’t think there is a pattern that a manager should always follow; success can be equally satisfactory for very different managers. Often, their success is guaranteed through the effort of their employees; some of the best proposals come from the employees on the front line and it is the leader’s job to opt for the right one. Also, in complicated situations, it is this effort that keeps things moving. But as this can’t always happen, the manager should know that there are some limits and he should also have the courage to adopt major changes, as he is “the nerve center of his organization’s information system” (Mintzberg 1971 , p.B97). Another thing that has limits is communication. Although it is well known that communication is the key to solving problems, in order to be efficient, it must be made between people with equivalent status.
Success motivates people while repeated failure discourages them. However, failure is a part of everyone’s life, especially a manager’s; if not, it means that he is not testing his limits enough. But he should always know when to take risks and when to play it safe. “Managers need to make sense of their world and be able to make interventions that solve problems, help other staff, and ultimately make a difference.”(Harris 2002, p.3). A good manager will always face problems and pressure, but what makes him stand out from the crowd is his ability to
The first words that come to mind when thinking about management are “plan, organize, coordinate and control” (Mintzberg 1989, p.9) as Henry Fayol first laid them down in 1916. These are the four things that a manager is supposed to do. In my opinion, they tend to generalize and describe vaguely a manager’s job. In spite of this fact, there are a number of characteristics that can be depicted from them.
The qualities of a good manager should concern whether he can organize people rather than focus on his individual characteristics. I don’t think there is a pattern that a manager should always follow; success can be equally satisfactory for very different managers. Often, their success is guaranteed through the effort of their employees; some of the best proposals come from the employees on the front line and it is the leader’s job to opt for the right one. Also, in complicated situations, it is this effort that keeps things moving. But as this can’t always happen, the manager should know that there are some limits and he should also have the courage to adopt major changes, as he is “the nerve center of his organization’s information system” (Mintzberg 1971 , p.B97). Another thing that has limits is communication. Although it is well known that communication is the key to solving problems, in order to be efficient, it must be made between people with equivalent status.
Success motivates people while repeated failure discourages them. However, failure is a part of everyone’s life, especially a manager’s; if not, it means that he is not testing his limits enough. But he should always know when to take risks and when to play it safe. “Managers need to make sense of their world and be able to make interventions that solve problems, help other staff, and ultimately make a difference.”(Harris 2002, p.3). A good manager will always face problems and pressure, but what makes him stand out from the crowd is his ability to
Bibliography: •Boddy, David. Management: An Introduction. Essex: Prentice Hall. •Harris, John (2002), The Good Management Guide for the Voluntary Sector. London: NCVO Publications. •Minkes,A.L. and Nuttall,C.S. (1985), Business Behaviour and Management Structure. Sydney: Croom Helm. •Mintzberg, Henry (1971), “Managerial Work: Analysis from Observation”, Management Science, 18(2), B97-B110 available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2629532 (29/10/2010). •Mintzberg, Henry(1989), Mintzberg On Management, Inside Our Strange World of Organizations. New York: The Free Press. •Porter, L. W., Angle, H.L. and Allen, R.W., Organizational Influence Processes. New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.