Years ago, when I was a young Assistant Professor at the Harvard Business school, I thought the role of business schools was to develop future managers who knew all about the various functions of business, to teach them how to define problems succinctly, analyse these problems and identify alternatives in a clear, logical fashion and finally, to teach them to make an intelligent decision. My thinking gradually became tempered by living and working outside the United States and by serving seven years as a college president. During my presidency of Babson College, I added several additional traits or skills that I felt a good manager must process.
One must have the ability to express oneself in a clear articulate fashion. Good oral and written communication skills are absolutely essential, if one is to be an effective manager. One must possess that intangible set of qualities called leadership skills. To be a good leader, one must understand and be sensitive to people and be able to inspire them towards the achievement of a common goal. Effective managers must be broad-minded human beings who not only understand the world of business but also have a sense of the culture, social, political, historical and (particularly today) the international aspects of life and society. This suggests that exposure to the liberal arts and humanities should be a part of every manager's education.
A good manager in today's world must have courage and a strong sense of integrity. He or she must know where to draw the line between the right and the wrong. That can be agonisingly difficult. Drawing the line in a corporate setting sometimes involves having to make a choice between what appears to be conflicting ‘rights'. For example, if one is faced with a decision about whether or not to close an ailing factory, whose interests should prevail? Those of stock holders? Of employees? Of customers? Or those of the community in which the factory is located? It's a tough choice. And the typical manager faces many other.
But now I have left behind the cap and gown of a college president and put on the hat of chief executive officer. As a result of my experience as a corporate CEO, my list of desirable managerial traits has become still longer.
It now seems to me that what matters most in the majority of organisations is to have reasonably intelligent, hardworking managers who have a sense of pride and loyalty towards their organisation; who can get to the root of a problem and are inclined towards action; who are decent human beings with a natural empathy and concern for people; who possess humour, humility and common-sense; and who are able to drive it with a stick-to-it attitude and patience in the accomplishment of a goal.
It is the ability to make positive things happen, that most distinguishes the successful manager from the mediocre or unsuccessful one. It is far better to have dependable managers who can make the right things happen in timely fashion than to have brilliant and highly educated ones who can do excellent planning but not implementing.
