5 skills every manager needs
August 1, 2018Do you have what it takes to be a good manager? Before you take that new promotion, here are our five essential skills every manager needs to have.
1.
Be a planner, organiser, leader, or controller
You should excel at one of these four management areas. Jill Brown, professor of management at Lehigh University says: “Those
who are good at planning are proactive, critical thinkers who can view multiple
aspects of something. Those who can organize can delegate the correct mix of
decentralized and centralized decision making. Those who are good at leading
tend to be extroverts with good communication skills and an ability to manage
group settings. But it’s the rare person who can do it all.”
2. Have an open mind
To be a good manager you need to
able to view problems from different perspectives, you should be able to deal
with change and shift your strategy accordingly. Being stubborn won’t get you
anywhere.
3. Know the company goals and support them
You should be able to internationalise the mission of your
organisation, know it inside and out, and encourage others to follow suit.
4.
Help the company grow and change – if it needs
to
If company rules no longer make sense you need to help them
adapt. Michael Greaney, director of research at the Center for Economic and Social
Justice in Washington, DC, says: “The response of the good manager is not to
break the rule, but to get it changed and, in the meantime, help others comply
with even the ridiculous rule as far as humanly possible.”
5. Learn how to balance people management
Barbara Roche, executive coach and lecturer in leadership communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, says: “If a manager is too heavily focused on tasks and goals, their team members become disillusioned; too heavily focused on people and everyone feels rudderless.”
Keep up to date with the latest myGnews