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.

Well on one hand, I’m sure most of the 10 percent unemployed would refute the statement.  For those of us fortunate enough to be in full employment, maybe we should look a little deeper.

It seems like only yesterday we were gripped in the World Series.  In the New Year, we’ve been fanatically following the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl and any other bowl that was thrown our way and now we are right in the middle of the NFL Playoffs in the build up to the Super Bowl.  Hundreds of thousands of people every weekend motivated to put all of their energies into supporting their team.  All of this is on a professional level and motivates ordinary people like you and me to get emotionally charged to spur on our team.  It also generates huge debate among us as to who will succeed and who will fail in next week’s contest.  On an individual level it is just as big a deal.  The U.S. is second to none globally in its sports and recreational facilities across the whole of the patch.  Evenings and weekends it is common to see folks engaging in their favorite sports and past times at all of those locations with boundless energy, enthusiasm and motivation.  In some respects this is all great.  It makes for a fitter and healthier population.

I guess the question to ask Mr. Shakespeare would be, “Do we have the balance right?”  I mean with the amount of coverage and engagement of ordinary people on the professional sports industry what would be the affect on the economy and the current downturn if all of these energies could be directed towards getting us back on track economically?  How often do we hear people debating the ins and outs of the recession and what can we all contribute to winning that game?  Not very often.  Imagine the combined efforts of the millions of people engaged on a weekly or daily basis playing football, soccer, hockey, tennis, etc., all being channeled into working harder, spending smarter, living a life at the level that we can all afford, increasing our productivity, going the extra yard, turning up for work when we don’t really feel like it.  That enthusiasm, that amount of discussion and debate, that amount of tenacity, that amount of support is what we put into the “sport” part of our lives.

Maybe it’s time to stand back and ask ourselves if we have the right balance between work and “sport.”  It’s true as the decades go by there is a growing trend towards more leisure time.  With computerization and automation, there is probably a trade-off, but the real issue is the mind set.

For this country and the people in it to enjoy the sport, the work part of our lives has to be approached with equal tenacity and importance.  The problems that we face at the moment are all of our problems.  We all have a role to play in winning the game.  We need to approach the work part of our lives with equal vigor as we do the Super Bowl.

Shakespeare said, “If every day were a holiday to sport would be as tedious as to work.”  We really don’t want to find out if he was right, do we?  Ask the 10 percent.