Skills for Effective Management
It is understood that management, which is defined as the act, manner, or practice of managing, handling, supervision, or control directly affects almost every aspect of the workplace (American Heritage, 2000). An incompetent or careless manager can have a devastating impact on an organization. This incompetent manger can cause and perpetuate decreased employee performance, dissatisfied customers, and poor production. An effective manager will avoid such effects through circumspect consideration and implementation of innovative management strategies. The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss such strategies and to provide a formula for exceptional leadership.
THE INNOVATIVE LEADER: SKILLS FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
An innovative leader is an effective manager, and an effective manager is an innovative leader: an ingenious, inventive, and original leader, one who is not afraid to embrace new concepts or reconsider old practices. An innovative leader differs from other managers due to his or her extraordinary creativity, enthusiasm, confidence in subordinates, and innate respect and genuine goodwill for all co-workers. Other managers, who may be content to accept the status quo from the subordinates and organization for which he or she is responsible, become unacceptable to a business (Smith, 2003). These managers cannot compare to the innovative leader, who goes above and beyond to utilize the competencies of staff and to improve the organization. Are you an innovative leader? Let’s explore the skills of an effective manager, and find out.
There are a plethora of skills that are necessary for effective management (Humphrey & Stokes, 2000), and there are just as many guidelines and principles that lend themselves to the advancement of admirable leadership. Many of these will be familiar, while others may be more obscure, but it is, arguably, the most valuable of the many management and leadership precepts that this composition will address.
Communication, which is simply the practice of accurately imparting one’s thoughts and ideas, is the most prevalent and relevant skill in any organization, and as such, must be established prior to any other managerial actions (American Heritage, 2000). Findley and Amsler (2003) note that the vast majority of performance problems that supervis...
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The topic of leadership has been explored and written about by thousands of authors who are considerably more qualified than I am to write about the subject. However, I’ve always maintained that developing, evolving and articulating one’s own leadership philosophy is an essential part of a professional’s growth. Through academics and experience, I’ve concluded that leadership is a “soft” skill, more art than science, and that leadership principles can be universally applied. As a topic of discussion, leadership can be ambiguous and seldom does everyone agree on a single definition. Organizations and the people they consist of crave leadership, even if not overtly. Undeniably, strong leadership is essential to achieving
In the first part of the book, Siddhartha is consumed by his thirst for knowledge. He joined the samanas and listened to the teachings of the Buddha in attempt to discern the true way to Nirvana. Though he perfected the arts of meditation and self-denial, he realized that no teachings could show him the way to inner peace. While with the ascetics only a third of his quest was accomplished. Siddhartha said, "You have learned nothing through teachings, and so I think, O Illustrious One, that nobody finds salvation through teachings" (27). His experiences with the samanas and Gotama were essential to his inner journey because they teach him that he cannot be taught, however this knowledge alone would not deliver him to enlightenment. Siddhartha had taken the first step in his quest but without the discovery of the body and spirit, his knowledge was useless in attaining Nirvana.
Siddhartha ends his knowledge quests: Brahminism, Samanic asceticism, and Buddhism. He turns to the use of his senses in finding his goal. His main goal is to be his 'Self'. His sense of 'being' is isolated by his knowledge. He realizes that he does not know his 'Self' which he has spent his life avoiding. He vows him self to explore the 'Self'.
"On the great journey of life, if a man cannot find one who is better or at least as good as himself, let him journey joyfully alone." The story of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse makes this point true. The main character Siddhartha dealt with the Samanas and Gotama Buddha, the second with Kamala and then the ferryman. The three parts correspond to the three stages though which Siddhartha passes on his journey to enlightenment: The stage of the mind; the stage of the flesh; the stage of transcendence.
Sutherland, Lisa., MacKenzie, Todd., Purvis, Lisa., Dalton, Madeline. “Research shows that food and beverage product placements in movies may be a potent source of advertising to children.” Hood Center of Children and Families. Retrieved April 22, 2014. (http://hoodcenter.dartmouth.edu/FoodProductPlacement.html)
...tood the material world and therefore couldn’t unify with it. To achieve nirvana he had to understand the different opinions and lifestyles of everyone so he could understand and accept the unity of the universe. In the moment that Siddhartha reaches enlightenment the narrator describes it as, “Siddhartha ceased to fight against his destiny...belonging to the unity of all things.” This means that he achieved inner peace by accepting and understanding everything, and he did this by participating in the many different worlds around him. The present moment contains a concentration of experiences that would take several lifetimes to undergo. Siddhartha knows not only that he himself is always the same despite the changes in his life but also that he is the same as all others in the world.
Throughout the tale, Siddhartha strives to be one with Atman, or internal harmony/eternal self, but by his own attainment. Even when he is offered the insight of Gotama, the divine and perfect one, who is the embodiment of peace, truth, and happiness, he refuses following him and decides to attain Nirvana in his own way. In this, Siddhartha shows his prideful nature but also reveals a positive aspect: self-direction. He realizes that others' ways of teaching can only be applied to their past experiences, but is still reluctant to ac...
Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge is an organizational management book written by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus for those who aim to become better leaders. The authors emphasize that having executive positions or being a manager does not automatically make one a leader. A leader is one who inspires his staff, helps them find purpose in their work, and effectively implements their plans. They separate the book not quite into chapters on different topics, but rather by four strategies that they have determined are vital for any leader to take on. The strategies are effectively defined as attention through vision, meaning through communication, trust through positioning, and the deployment of self.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
In the beginning, Siddhartha is having trouble finding peace and discovering the path to enlightenment. Siddhartha’s interactions with his family, the samanas, and the Buddha help Siddhartha to realize that enlightenment cannot be achieved with the guidance of a teacher. In the very beginning, Siddhartha’s father is the one who teaches Siddhartha about his culture and spirituality. Siddhartha is very young when he masters all his father’s teachings and realizes that, “his father was to be admired, quiet and noble were his manners, pure his life, wise his words, delicate and noble thoughts lived behind its brow—but even he, who knew so much, did he live in bliss?” (Hesse 6). Siddhartha knows that ...
Furthermore, excellent communication skills are essential for effective performance management [U.S. office of personnel management 2016]. The need for continuous dialogue is essential. Managers should create an atmosphere which is conducive for interaction and work. So that colleagues can be able to share information on the organization’s mission, values and objectives. This leads to efficient and effective performance which contributes in meeting the goals of the organisation
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