People love to talk about leadership. Leadership is sexy. It inspires. It sells books.
For some reason when we talk about management…zzzzzzzz…oh sorry…I dozed off for a second…it’s a snoozefest. At least for some.
But let me tell you something about management. Effective management ensures your business will achieve it’s goals.
Good managers, who really know what they are doing, know how to get it done. They know how to achieve goals.
But…
…most managers don’t know how to get it done. They are really not managing well. They are really not managing with intention, a proven approach or strategy. They are wingin’ it.
In fact, in most businesses, despite the fact that people might have the title of ‘manager’, they aren’t doing management work.
Just like a leader, a manager is defined by the work they do. Not a title.
I will contend that the primary reasons why businesses get stuck; why they continue to struggle; why we remain frustrated is due to ineffective leadership and management.
You have know how to lead well. You have to know how to manage well. You have to do both intentionally and purposefully. And don’t get mad as me for saying it but, you can’t pretend you know what you are doing either. You either know how to do it or you don’t. By the way, if you have a system for leading and managing you might be on the right track.
Here are some things that might be helpful to becoming an effective manager.
- Managers make it a point to fully understand the vision and goals of an organization.
- The most important question a manager asks is, “How are we going to achieve the goals set before us.”
- They keep asking the question until they find the answer.
- Managers build systems that will produce the goals and results set before them.
- Managers engage in the evaluation and innovation (as needed) of systems to continually improve performance.
- They train their people systems until are proficient at operating them.
- They understand and live the culture and values of the business.
- They know how to mentor people to understand and live the culture and values of the business.
- Being effective in the tactical work that a manager oversees doesn’t mean they will be a good manager. Being a player or effective coach are two different types of work and skill sets.
- A manager is performing well if the people they oversee are succeeding and producing their results. A sales manager is performing if his or her people are achieving their goals as an example.
It’s honesty time. How well does management happen in your business? Really!