EFFECTIVE MANAGERIAL PRACTICE TRAIT

Many people in managerial positions struggle to understand and learn, what traits will make them click or succeed.

While organization spends lakhs of rupees annually on mangerial development, still the effective managers availability in short of supply.

Organizations have responded to this with myriads of education and training resources, which seem to be plentiful, yet most attempts at building high performance managers are either far too complex or too simplistic to be of any practical use to make things happen.

So what does work?

The five key characteristics that successful managers usually demonstrate to show their effectiveness . These work extremely well whether the emphasis is on 'quality' or some other approach to building and sustaining a customer focused, team based organization that pays as much attention to results as it does to process...a high performance organization.

Here are the five key facets of high performance management

Focus - A uthenticity - Courage - E mpathy - Timing

Focus
Effective Manager stay focused on the outcomes they wish to create, and don't get too married to the methods used to achieve them. They provide this 'outcomes focus' for their organization by emphasizing the mission, vision, values and strategic goals of their organization and at the same time building the capacity of their organizations to achieve them. This capacity building emphasizes the need to be flexible, creative and innovative and avoid becoming fossilized through the adoption of bureaucratic structures, policies and processes.

Authenticity
Managers who are authentic attract followers as a team to solve problems , even managers who are viewed as being highly driven and difficult to work for. Simply put, they are viewed as always being themselves…and therefore followers know what to expect from them and can rely on them, come thick or thin. Authenticity provides the leader with the currency to obtain 'buy-in' from key stakeholders, because it builds and maintains trust. Authenticity is the bedrock upon which the other facets are built.

Courage
The challenges facing manager today are immense, and require great courage to overcome. managers are constantly being challenged at other end for their outcome, be it their own team, customers, the public or other stakeholders. Standing firm in the face of criticism, yet having the courage to admit when they are wrong, are hallmarks of courageous leaders. For example, shifting an organization from being introspective to becoming customer focused requires courage when people pay lip service to the new direction...it means calling people on their bluff.

Empathy
Effective Manager know how to listen empathetically…thus legitimizing others' input. By doing so, they promote consensus building, and build strong teams. They coach others to do the same, and so create a culture of inclusiveness. They tend to be great listeners who capitalize on the ideas of others, and provide recognition for these ideas, yet they don't get bogged down in overly complicated dialogue. While they create learning organizations that place a high value on dialogue and continuous feedback, they know when to take action, when to 'fish or cut bait', which brings us on to the final facet...

Timing
The one fact that can make a diffrence in a manager , taking calculated risk and to make critical decisions for maximum benifit, at right time also restrain from when not to. All of the other facets must be viewed as subservient to getting the timing of critical decisions right. There is a need to be focused, authentic, courageous and empathetic, but get the timing wrong on critical decisions and everything else stands to be nullified. Great managers move with appropriate speed. They don't believe that everything must be done immediately...they know how to prioritize, and how to get their team to prioritize. As well, they engage in timely follow-through to ensure actions that are committed to happen in a well coordinated and timely way.

Is that all it takes to be a sucessful manager?
These facets of high performance managers are not exhaustive. Just as one would look at the facets of a diamond, upon closer observation other facets become observable. Any person can aspire to being a great leader by commencing with these facets.