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The new generation of business leaders must be capable of managing the complex challenges faced by businesses and society in the 21st Century.
Below are 5 personal skills that all managers will need to master in addition to traditional management skills.
1.Managing Ambiguity
There is nothing more frustrating than ambiguity. Managers need to be clear about what they expect. They need to manage ‘fuzzy areas' and dealing with uncertain situations successfully is something that needs to be taught.
We cannot be quite certain how things are going to turn out, so managers need to deal comfortably with not knowing precisely what is going to happen. This is dealing with ambiguity.
Anxiety affects our thinking and it gets worse the more anxious we become, and we end up not being able to think clearly. The toughest combination is when something is important and uncertain, a nasty pair.
For example, will I sell my house? Will I be made redundant? Both are important and uncertain.
Managers need a plan to lessen the impact if there is a multitude of possible outcomes and not all of them desirable, so they need to think clearly about each possible outcome and decide how likely it is to happen, and how to actively influence it. Putting a plan into place will lower anxiety because you will have a better chance of success.
For all the things you can't control and influence write them down, then throw them away and forget them, because at some point you need to let go.
2.Managing Responsibility
Managers must be able to take responsibility and know what it means. They must be able to approach any situation, environmental, physical or social and have the confidence to deal with it.
Soundness, wholeness and integrity, transparent company activities, actions and outcomes, all point to corporate responsibility.
Responsible management includes treating customers, stakeholders and suppliers right every day, treating employees well, with respect and dignity, and actually living up to the standards and values they believe in, and supply secure, well paying jobs.
Responsibility above all else means transparency.
"Fluff is not enough," says Sandra Wardall in a report written for Ethic Corporation. She was referring to Enron. For all it's so called integrity and sound business sense it eventually amounted to nothing because the overall company culture and values were not followed on a daily basis. In other words, Enron's operations were ‘fluffed over' to such an extent - everyone was fooled into thinking the company was something it was not.
Enron's entire company ethos was built on untruths and make-believe. This is a prime example of the absence of responsible management at the top of an organisation.
Responsible management impacts on the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic values, and organisations need to find an effective approach to meeting these challenges through sound management training.
3.Managing Community
Connecting, interacting and maintaining links with people is important. For example, remembering birthdays, remembering your grandmother is alone this weekend, or that it's your son's sports day, is recognising that you are part of a larger community, not just in your own private little world.
But community can mean any group of people who come together with a shared aim or idea, including people in organisations.
Managers should try and organise social events that will give employees the opportunity to get to know each other. Through understanding and respecting each other, colleagues can learn to work together for the good of the organisation and contribute towards a positive working atmosphere and increased productivity.
It also makes sound business sense to contribute to the well being of the local community. For example, sponsoring a local up and coming tennis player or a local charity. Arranging a corporate ‘open day' for local people to see what your organisation does, will not only enhance the company presence in the community, but is also a great networking tool.
So, it's not just about the community within an organisation that can have a beneficial impact on business, but raising your profile within the local community is good public relations and can lead to increased business through word of mouth, the best advertising tool of all.
Don't forget business social networking is the on-line community tool that is becoming essential if you want to advertise your organisation without spending huge amounts of money. By subscribing to these sites you reach hundreds of potential customers. They even organise social events so you can get to know other business leaders in your area. These sites are viral in nature, meaning that if you use them correctly they will help you spread the word about your business far beyond the things you actually do yourself.
4.Managing Emotion
Get away from the idea that reason and emotion are separate. Teaching people to manage reason and emotion and not flip from one to the other is an important part of the education process.
To come to a decision about anything involves a combination of the two. You can't follow your heart or your head, because business or personal decisions are based on the two. Our greatest hopes and deepest fears are bound by our decisions in life; therefore emotion is essential in rational thinking.
The philosopher David Hume said, "Reason is the slave of the passions." In other words, reason alone doesn't make us want to do something.
Many everyday things get in the way and prevent the quality of thought required in today's complex business environment. Managers too often ignore or deny that emotions influence decision-making. They can learn to recognize the important influence of emotions, and consciously take steps to ensure that the impact is positive, rather than being at the whim of their emotions or captive to the feelings of others. Managers can then be sure that the business decisions being made are well thought out.
Emotion makes us want to do something, but reason tells us whether we can do it, if we should do it, and how to do it.
5.Managing Technological Change
New tools help us to improve what we are already doing. Over time the tool changes the way we do things, therefore it changes our social practices. So keeping up-to-date with technology is essential as computers become smaller and smarter and more people own one.
The traditional concept of time and space is being eroded as we can now conduct business anytime, day or night, sometimes with organisations 10 time zones away.
The global economy continues to grow, driven by never evolving technology as people work anywhere at anytime on portable laptop computers, mobile phones, and pagers. People now have more control over their work schedules allowing for more flexible working hours, and those who find it necessary to work from home now find it much easier.
However, change of any kind affects workers' morale and performance. Some will see technological changes as an opportunity to learn new skills, while others will not embrace it so willingly, and may feel threatened.
Therefore managers need to know not only how to use the technology to advantage in business, but also how to sell the concept of technological change to their staff.
Written by M Jones - August 2009
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