During these tough times of downsizing and cut-backs the affects on the people within a business can be pretty devastating ~ stress, worry, concern, to name just a few of the harmful downsides.  It’s at times like these when it’s important to know in detail the skills and attributes of everyone who works within the company, in order to ensure a balanced portfolio of skills, attributes, drive and enthusiasm going forward. 

To do this it is worth focusing on the skills necessary to make the company rounded and successful in the short and long terms.  These are generally obvious; there are the accountants, the engineers, the attorneys, the techies, the marketers, etc.  All of these are people, above all but are in the positions that they are in because of the qualifications that they earned through the education system, their years of experience at your company or others and the personality traits inherent to them as individuals to enable them to take these specific roles within an organization.

But what of the managers, directors, the President of the company, the ones who have led their troops through downturns such as we are currently experiencing.  What skills does a manager or director need?  Where would you go to get educated in the art of general management? 

I would suggest the only place is the, “University of Life,” in this the fourth year of the downturn.  Why do I take this view?  Because general management is and always will be about managing people.  Managing people with the skills listed above, not managing them as individuals but molding them into a cohesive, integrated, strategic, solid team.

The general manager or director in the current circumstances is under probably more pressure than anyone else in the organization and uniquely that pressure comes from above as well as below.  Handling this type of pressure requires a special skill set.  Not those that can be learned in college or even read in a book.  These skills are probably inherent in the individual and are honed over the years through mentors and through experiences and more importantly learning from these experiences.  No two days are the same, maybe that is part of the appeal, but the greatest appeal is the opportunity to interact with people, the team.  The team is made up of a myriad of personalities that all have their own needs and concerns as well as skills and abilities.

The skill of the manager comes to the fore when it becomes possible to release the power of the people ~ through persuasion, motivation, praise, clear, concise instructions, support and trust.  It certainly rarely brings out the best results when finger pointing, bullying and power are utilized. 

Managers usually fall into three categories.

• First, those with a natural aptitude in working with people and these are the folks that would employ the tactics quoted first above. 
• Second, those who have taken the job for the power, the bullies.  These are the people who generally fail and do you know what?  It is usually the people they are managing that cause them to fail.  That’s the negative power that forms the backlash to a huge ego.
• Third, the one who wishes they’d never been appointed.  The great accountant or engineer that was so good at their job they were appointed as a manager ends up completely out of their depth.  Simply put a round peg in a square hole. 

General management is a great role to undertake.  It has its ups and wow don’t we all know it has its downs too.  At times like these it can be the most isolated position in the organization.  However, the loyalty, trust and respect shown by the team are testament to the leader’s success and reward him or her with the greatest job fulfillment ITHOE.