Leadership Skills

Home
>
Business Management
>
Leadership Skills

Recent studies have shown that industrial supervisors are working at less than 60% of their potential. Basic management skills training is guaranteed to change all this and at such little cost.

Introduction

There is no doubt that the single most important aspect of a manager's job is the management of people. Of course, a supervisor must manage resources other than people. However, none of the other resources compare in importance to PEOPLE. The challenge to manage people effective is unquestionably the greatest of all the challenges that face all managers.

The problem with people

It is estimated that there are over 6 billion human beings presently living on our planet and there are not two of us who are exactly alike. In other words every one us is unique. One of the greatest mysteries has been, and still is, to fully understand how we work. It has obsessed scientists and the great thinkers since the beginning of mankind. Our progress has been minimal and maybe we will never know. A simplistic way for us to understand this complex issue is to consider a human like an onion with many layers. For example:

1. Hereditary traits

These are our genetic strings (DNA) that are passed down from generation to generation.

2. Personal values

These are created when we are children and are heavily influenced by our parents, etc.

3. Attitudes and beliefs

These are influenced by your personal values. It is what you think about things, situations and people. For example, you may enjoy romantic music but dislike noisy people.

4. Feelings

Feelings follow attitudes and beliefs. For example, you feel good when you hear romantic music.

5. Behavior

This is directly related to your feelings. For example, romantic music makes you smile, and people shouting makes you react angrily. One of the important challenges for the great thinkers has been to determine to what extent can the features of each layer be changed or manipulated. This single study area has proved to be minefield of differing views that has resulted in enough books to fill many warehouses.

For our purposes, we will assume that once someone has reached working age then he has unchangeable values, attitudes and feelings. In consequence, the only layer that we can work with as a manager is the final layer ? our BEHAVIOR.

However, it is important to understand how behavior has been influenced by the other inner layers.

Now that scientists have defined human DNA it is possible that future mankind can develop the perfect manager and then clone millions. However, in the meantime you will need this training manual!

The final factor in our simple equation is EMOTION, which has a profound effect on our behavior. It stimulates our love and caring behavior but also invokes violence and cruelty.

Statistic analysis

A lot of work was done in the 1960's to evaluate what really motivated workers. The responses of thousands of workers were tabulated and ranked in order of motivational influence. Not only did these studies solidly support the basic theory but an unexpected phenomenon appeared.

Although the relative rankings were consistent, there was always large gap between the top six factors and all the others.

These statistics are quite remarkable and have never been seriously contested. However, it is very important to realize that the above list is not based on importance because the low scorers are high potential de-motivators if not at acceptable levels.

Another important factor is that many of the early studies and the resulting statistics concentrated on what made people feel good and maintained morale. This has now become more objective with more emphasis on what motivates people to be more productive.

What is leadership?

It is a natural requirement of human beings, like most other animal groups, to have leaders. There are many excellent wildlife films that show the dramatic and tragic process of leadership challenges in the animal kingdom.

In caveman days we probably did much the same. Although the group was not directly involved in these struggles they obviously supported the outcome. When mankind developed from being hunters to being predominantly farmers the leader role became more sophisticated and different qualities were required.

The Holy Grail of management

Throughout the history of management science there has been an unrelenting quest to find the holy grail of management success - a one best leadership style. As a result several main theories have emerged: trait theory, behavior theory, X-Y-Z theory and contingency theory.

The toolbox style

I like to imagine all the theories like a toolbox where some jobs need a delicate instrument but others a heavy hammer. The choice is dictated by the job you have to do and your knowledge and skill. The tools that you have and choose and the way that you use them will determine the success of the work, and management is exactly the same. Let's look at the toolbox that you could have available if you choose to put them together and learn to use them.

Chris Thomas is the author of the Managers Toolbox training material located at http://www.managers-toolbox.com and runs the very successful Basic Management Course for new leaders and supervisors.

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Israeli government says Gaza offensive to continue (AP)

AP - Israel's government says it will press ahead with its military offensive in the Gaza Strip despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire.

Illinois House on verge of impeaching Blagojevich (AP)

AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.

Rifts show as Obama urges quick action on stimulus (AP)

AP - Lawmakers are under orders to finish action on President-elect Barack Obama's nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan by mid-February. But already it is plain that a set of serious fissures need to be bridged if the bill is to be completed within five weeks.

Democrats begin new session with labor bills (AP)

AP - Democrats are ushering in what they believe will be a new labor-friendly era in Washington with House votes on two bills aimed at helping women fight pay discrimination in the workplace.

Job losses stack up as recession deepens (AP)

AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.

Toxic coal ash piling up in ponds in 32 states (AP)

AP - Millions of tons of toxic coal ash is piling up in power plant ponds in 32 states, a practice the federal government has long recognized as a risk to human health and the environment but has left unregulated.

Obama to finalize national security team Friday (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is completing his national security team by announcing his unusual choices for CIA director and a national intelligence director who may face tough Senate confirmation questioning over how he confronted the Indonesian military when civilian massacres were occurring in East Timor.

Emphasis on smooth transition to new Cabinet (AP)

AP - Just minutes after George W. Bush took the oath of office eight years ago, he signed papers formally nominating 13 Cabinet-level officials. Several hours later, the Senate, meeting in a special Saturday session, confirmed seven Cabinet secretaries, including the heads of the key posts at State, Treasury and Defense.

Mini Dynasty: Gators beat Sooners for BCS title (AP)

AP - Tim Tebow enjoyed the battering-ram runs. He liked the old-school jump pass. Drawing a rare penalty, that really made Tebow's day. With No. 1 Florida about to finish off No. 2 Oklahoma 24-14 for the BCS championship Thursday night, Tebow was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Critics' final answer: `Slumdog' wins 5 awards (AP)

AP - The critics have spoken, and "Slumdog Millionaire" is their final answer.

World waits on jobs data as recession weighs (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. employers probably cut the most jobs in at least 34 years last month as the global economic crisis gathered pace and moves by policy makers took time to filter through to struggling companies.

U.N. calls for immediate Gaza truce (Reuters)

Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday, defying a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Panel steps up criticism of Treasury: report (Reuters)

Reuters - A report being released on Friday alleges that the U.S. Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system, not answered questions asked by a government watchdog, and has done nothing to help struggling homeowners, the Wall Street Journal said.

EU seeks gas supply return after deal (Reuters)

Reuters - Europe sought a swift restoration of gas supplies on Friday after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a pricing dispute with Kiev.

Citi backs measure to help avoid foreclosures (Reuters)

Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.

Illinois panel recommends governor's impeachment (Reuters)

Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama team amending financial rescue package: report (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is urgently overhauling the $700 billion financial rescue package to broaden its scope beyond Wall Street, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Health care overhaul needn't break bank: study (Reuters)

Reuters - An analysis of proposals to overhaul U.S. health care by President-elect Barack Obama and members of Congress suggests it is possible to insure all Americans without significantly raising total health spending.

Israel and Hamas battle on after UN ceasefire demand (AFP)

AFP - Israel and Hamas launched heavy air strikes and rocket attacks on each other Friday, ignoring a UN Security Council order on the warring rivals to end their conflict.

EU demands immediate resumption of gas supplies (AFP)

AFP - The European Union demanded Friday that Russian gas supplies to Europe resume immediately now that details of a mission to monitor the flow through Ukrainian pipelines have been agreed.

Leadership Skills

Business Management Business Management