Skills and Qualities of an Effective Manager - Report Example

Skills and Qualities in Effective Managers Introduction It is difficult to exactly quantify what skills and qualities managers need for success in the 21st century since so much in business changes on a daily basis. However, I feel that the examples of Steve Jobs (current CEO of Apple) and Jack Welch (former CEO of GE) can be used along with theoretical models to show that individuals like these can be very successful in managing their companies even though they have radically different management styles. Steve Jobs No mention of Apple can be complete without discussing the cult of personality which revolves around its founder and current CEO, Steve Jobs. Jobs has had a tumultuous relationship with the company he founded since he was removed from service and called back by the board after many years of absence (Beckman & Hirsch, 2001). Writing for The Guardian, Smith says that: “To technology freaks and geeks, he is a demigod, whose product launches are adulatory affairs regularly likened to religious revivalist meetings. The Jobs life story - humble birth, rise and fall, then miraculous comeback - has even been likened by Apple fanatics to the heroic myths of Odysseus, Jason, Krishna and Christ (Smith, 2006, Pg. 1).” Therefore it is difficult to separate the man from the company since Jobs is the driving force behind the innovations and technologies created by Apple (Smith, 2006). This is why the paradigm that calls for anti-organisational behaviour is so valid for analysing Apple since the personality of Steve Jobs appears to reflect the radical humanist perspective very well (Burrell, 1979). At the same time, his ways of governing the company look terrifying (Hertzfeld, 1982). When taking an outsider’s perspective towards the company, it is obvious that the company takes guidance and lays a lot of trust in only one man who becomes the power that drives the company forward. Steve Jobs’ hold on the company is absolute and unquestioned since he is famous for his summary ‘executions’ where he has been known to fire people working for the company in the time it takes to go from one floor of the building to another in an elevator. His presence on the company campus is affectionately known as the reign of terror in which anything can happen anywhere at anytime (Deutschman, 2000). Normally, an organisation takes a lot of time and places a lot of thought into both hiring and firing individuals since there are legal checks which need to be made and decisions like removing people from service can have far reaching effects on the overall company. By working in a method which can be described as anti-organisational, Steve Jobs working tactics have been discussed by Deutschman (2000) who discusses his working style by saying: “He had total disregard for the hierarchical chain of command. He would remember what several hundred people did and call on whomever he needed, always bypassing their managers. It was as though everyone in the company reported directly to Steve himself (Deutschman, 2000, Pg. 1).” This management style is a perfect fit for the paradigm since it directly tackles the issue of social constraints and limits to human potential that can be created due to strict management and hierarchical systems of management. Bypassing managers and breaking the chain of command might have irked people in middle and senior management teams but the end results and the profits declared by Apple under such leadership speak for themselves (Forbes, 2006). The best example of breaking social constraints comes from Hertzfeld (1982) who worked with Apple during its formative years. Hertzfeld describes an interview that was taken by Steve Jobs where Steve behaved in a manner which is totally unsuitable for an interview if not completely illegal. The senior management personnel had told Steve that the company needed someone who could continue the sprit of the team and that individual should not be authoritarian. One unnamed candidate for the interview was described as, “Extremely straight-laced and uptight, dressing more like an insurance salesman than a technologist. He also seemed very nervous as he fumbled at our first few questions (Hertzfeld, 1982, Pg. 1).” Steve Jobs asked him questions like, how old he was when he lost his virginity. When the candidate wanted a clarification, Steve asked if he was still a virgin. Before the individual could answer Jobs changed the subject to drugs and asked about the number of times that person had taken LSD. If breaking these social constraints was not enough, Steve Jobs started making turkey like noises while the person was in the process of answering a technical question. At that point the candidate realized that he was not the right person for the job and declared the same to the interviewing panel. Steve simply responded, “I guess youre not, I think this interview is over (Hertzfeld, 1982, Pg. 1).” A story given by Hertzfeld (1984) discusses how the human potential of the team was unleashed by Steve Jobs stubborn refusal to give up even when the situation seemed drastic. In 1983, the Macintosh system was about to be launched and the people working on the project were going at it round the clock even forgoing their Christmas break. Despite their hard work there were quite a few problems with the software which needed fixing before the computer could be launched (Hertzfeld, 1984). However the launch date was approaching and it seemed useless to continue working on problems for which there simply was not enough time. The team estimated that they needed a few weeks more to correct the issues and needed to inform Steve Jobs of the delay. After Steve had been told of all the problems connected with the launch he responded by saying: “No way! Theres no way we’re slipping! You guys have been working on this stuff for months now, another couple weeks isnt going to make that much of a difference. You may as well get it over with. Just make it as good as you can. You better get back to work! (Hertzfeld, 1984, Pg. 1).” By working harder and not sleeping for three days before the launch, the programmers eventually managed to launch the computer half an hour before the deadline. They stayed awake on coffee and chocolate covered espresso beans and after the launch they could only sit on sofas in the lobby to stare at each other in disbelief. Hertzfeld recalls, “We must have been quite a sight; everybody could tell that we had been there all night (actually, I hadnt been home or showered for three days). I finally drove home around 9am and collapsed on my bed, thinking that Id sleep for the next day or two (Hertzfeld, 1984, Pg. 1)”. Jack Welch Another example of successful leadership and management is the example of Jack Welch who took GE from being a failing company to being a darling for investors. Jack Welch comes across clearly in terms of his management ideal when he gives the eight rules of leadership in his book titled Winning. These rules can be studied in the light of management theories and a final analysis can be made as to which are the exact ideals that are recommended by Jack Welch. The eight rules as suggested by Welch (2005) are: 1. Leaders should continually upgrade their team by using opportunities to coach, mentor, judge and improve the abilities of the team. 2. Leaders pass on the vision of the company to the employees and show the employees that they embody the vision. 3. Leaders give out positive energy and are optimistic. 4. Leaders create trust and are transparent with the employees. 5. They have the courage to make the employees unhappy with decisions which can be considered unpopular. 6. Leaders are curious about answers and want action from the employees. 7. They inspire people to take risks and set examples for learning from mistakes which may be made by them. 8. They celebrate when they win. With these rules in mind, two theories of ideal management can be applied to the style used by Welch and these are the trait theories set and the situational theories of management. Gardner (1995) presents us with several ideas which managers can use to change their styles or how they can balance the styles depending on the situation. The idea of management traits can come with several stereotypes or ideas that some people are born leaders or good managers, but leadership skills can also be taught to people although the right personality always helps (Welch, 2005). For example, when we consider the third rule given by Welch which states that leaders must give out and infect others with positive energy and optimistic views about situations. That is a key pointer towards the fact that Jack Welch considers the majority of management skills to come from the trait theory than any other applicable theory. Undoubtedly, optimism is a personality trait and being able to create optimism or any other emphatic feeling in others requires a leader to have charisma (DePree, 1989). Charisma is accepted by DePree (1998) to be a rare quality which is attributed to those leaders who create devoted followers. Devoted followers and employees who become your personal friends as well as have complete faith in your vision are simply essential. These employees can certainly be created with an informal style of management as applied in GE. As explained by Byrne (1998): “Making the company ‘informal’ means violating the chain of command, communicating across layers, paying people as if they worked not for a big company but for a demanding entrepreneur where nearly everyone knows the boss. It has as much to do with Welchs charisma as it has to do with the less visible rhythms of the company--its meetings and review sessions--and how he uses them to great advantage.” (Byrne, Pg. 1, 1998) This creation of trust and making the employees believe in the leadership of the leader is also a trait since it requires the leader to possess the ability to convince them without coercion that his/her viewpoint is the correct one. The idea of being transparent means being honest with the employees about everything; going from their quarterly evaluations to the company’s annual financial reports, the leader has to create trust (Welch, 2005). It also requires the leader to be good with oral and written communications, be diplomatic and tactful as well as present his/her case to a group of peers or close subordinates when they do not agree with the decision or are hesitant at making tough calls (Gardner, 1995). Both Gardner (1995) and DePree (1989) agree with Welch when he writes as rule number nine that the leader should set an example for the employees to follow. It is not as simple as monkey see monkey do but rather a very complex yet close relationship between a leader and the follower where the followers try to create the same traits within themselves as the leader has within him/her. If the leader can take risks, accept that he may be wrong before taking the risk and then if the risk turns out to be a mistake, accepts the mistake, it means that s/he is a very good leader indeed (Welch, 2005). This shows both integrity and character which is the stuff real leaders are made out of. Overall, it seems that there is no single answer for what sort of a manager would succeed in this century but the examples of individuals such as Steve Jobs and Jack Welch certainly let us know what leaders have been successful in the past. We can also use the applicable theories of management and leadership to understand how certain situations need to be handled and what styles work in what cases. With this knowledge in hand, all a manager needs is a little bit of luck to make his/her company a success. Works Cited Beckman, D. and Hirsch, D. 2001, ‘Mac Is Back in Town’, ABA Journal, vol. 87, no. 8, pp. 70-72. Burrell, G. 1979, Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis, Heinemann Educational Books. Byrne, J. 1998, How Jack Welch Runs GE: A Close-up Look at How Americas #1 Manager Runs GE. BusinessWeek.com, [Online] Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/1998/23/b3581001.htm DePree, M. 1989. Leadership Is an Art. New York: Doubleday. Deutschman, A. 2000, ‘The once and future Steve Jobs’, Salon.com, [Online] Available at: http://archive.salon.com/tech/books/2000/10/11/jobs_excerpt/index.html Forbes. 2006, ‘Steven Jobs’ Forbes.com, [Online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/HEDB.html Gardner, H. 1995, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. Basic. Hertzfeld, A. 1982, ‘Gobble, Gobble, Gobble’, folklore.org, [Online] Available at: http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Gobble_Gobble_Gobble.txt&topic=Management&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium Hertzfeld, A. 1984, ‘Real Artists Ship’, folklore.org, [Online] Available at: http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Real_Artists_Ship.txt&topic=Management&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium Smith, D. 2006, ‘The non-stop revolutionary’, The Guardian, [Online] Available at: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/opinion/story/0,,1697348,00.html Welch, J. 2005. Winning. HarperCollins. Read More