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Skills of Great Managers

Written by: Susan Ireland

Article Overview: Here's an ad that, in a sense, appears constantly on help wanted websites, newspapers, trade journals and other business publications around the world.

Skills of Great Managers

Here’s an ad that, in a sense, appears constantly on help wanted websites, newspapers, trade journals and other business publications around the world. Wanted Someone to Take Responsibility for Getting Things Done Through People Salary range $100,000 to $25,000,000 annually depending on ability to get results Apply Now. Please Hurry! We need you badly! Sound far-fetched? Look on Craig’s List. Look in The Wall Street Journal. Look in publications in Singapore, Sydney, Stockholm or Syracuse. Ask headhunters what kind of people they’re looking for. They’ll tell you. It’s effective leaders. It’s hard to find effective leaders. Why aren’t there more effective leaders who can fill these voids in the marketplace? What traits do effective leaders have that other people don’t? Can these traits be developed by people who aspire to greater leadership and income levels? The answer to the first question is “I have no idea.” To the second it’s “there are 12 and I’m going to discuss one of them in detail below.” And to the third question, I say “ABSOLUTELY.” Here they are . . . the 12 magic bullets. In my travels around the country, working with literally hundreds of top performing managers, I’ve found they all have a higher-than-average mix of the following and it’s the difference between success and failure . . .especially in a down economy. The tougher the economy, the more challenging the market, the more critical they become. They are: vision, charisma, character, responsibility, planning, social skills, achievement drive, emotional stability, tolerance for ambiguity, decisiveness, delegation and positive outlook. There’s a reason VISION is listed first. The rest are in no particular priority order. Organizations everywhere are searching for people to whom they can pay lots of money for being able to clearly articulate a vision, share it with the world, and rally their people to help them achieve it. Yet, it’s one of the simplest traits to master. Simple but not always easy. “The world makes way for the man who knows where he’s going.” -Emerson Vision is having a clear picture of where you’re going. Not just a clear goal, but a strong commitment to achieving it. It’s expressed in a leader’s actions and confidence level. The visionary leader has a deep belief that their objectives are possible and that they’ll find a way to achieve them. They are always designing, revising, and carrying out the plan of action. When your vision or mission is energized by a strong purpose, YOU become strong, powerful, and effective. The other 11 bullets. The other traits are important too. But for today, I encourage you to examine your vision. Be certain you are clear about where you, your department, your organization . . . is going. Do your people know it? Your customers? The world? Can it be clearly articulated so everyone “gets” it? If not, spend some time on this trait. It, more than any other, will help you be the effective leader organizations pay more to have.

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Article Tags: traits effective leaders



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