Introduction

Around the 1960s and on to today, the environment of today’s organizations has changed a great deal.

A variety of driving forces provoke this change. Increasing telecommunications has “shrunk” the world

substantially. Increasing diversity of workers has brought in a wide array of differing values, perspectives

and expectations among workers. Public consciousness has become much more sensitive and

demanding that organizations be more socially responsible. Much of the third-world countries has

joined the global marketplace, creating a wider arena for sales and services. Organizations became

responsible not only to stockholders (those who owned stock) but to a wider community of

“stakeholders.”

As a result of the above driving forces, organizations were required to adopt a “new paradigm,” or view

on the world, to be more sensitive, flexible and adaptable to the demands and expectations of

stakeholder demands. Many organizations have abandoned or are abandoning the traditional top-down,

rigid and hierarchical structures to more “organic” and fluid forms.

Today’s leaders and/or managers must deal with continual, rapid change. Managers faced with a major

decision can no longer refer back to an earlier developed plan for direction. Management techniques

must continually notice changes in the environment and organization, assess this change and manage

change. Managing change does not mean controlling it, rather understanding it, adapting to it where

necessary and guiding it when possible.

Managers can’t know it all or reference resources for every situation. Managers must count on and

listen more to their employees. Consequently, new forms of organizations are becoming more common,

e.g., worker-centered teams, self-organizing and self-designing teams, etc.

Definition of Management

There are a variety of views about this term. Traditionally, the term "management" refers to the

activities (and often the group of people) involved in the four general functions listed below. (Note that

the four functions recur throughout the organization and are highly integrated):

1) Planning, including identifying goals, objectives, methods, resources needed to carry out methods,

responsibilities and dates for completion of tasks. Examples of planning are strategic planning, business

planning, project planning, staffing planning, advertising and promotions planning, etc

2) Organizing, resources to achieve the goals in an optimum fashion. Examples are organizing new

departments, human resources, office and file systems, re-organizing businesses, etc.

3) Leading, including to set direction for the organization, groups and individuals and also influence

people to follow that direction. Examples are establishing strategic direction (vision, values, mission and

/ or goals) and championing methods of organizational performance management to pursue that

direction.

4) Controlling, or coordinating, the organization's systems, processes and structures to reach effectively

and efficiently reach goals and objectives. This includes ongoing collection of feedback, and monitoring

and adjustment of systems, processes and structures accordingly. Examples include use of financial

controls, policies and procedures, performance management processes, measures to avoid risks etc.

Another common view is that "management" is getting things done through others. Yet another view,

quite apart from the traditional view, asserts that the job of management is to support employee's

efforts to be fully productive members of the organizations and citizens of the community. To most

employees, the term "management" probably means the group of people (executives and other

managers) who are primarily responsible for making decisions in the organization. In a nonprofit, the

term "management" might refer to all or any of the activities of the board, executive director and/or

program directors.

Management Skills Illustrated

Several defining characteristics demarcate management skills and differentiate them from other kinds of

managerial characteristics and practices. First, management skills are behavioral. They are not

personality attributes or stylistic tendencies. Management skills consist of identifiable sets of actions

that individuals perform and that lead to certain outcomes. Skills can be observed by others, unlike

attributes that are purely mental or are embedded in personality. Whereas people with different styles

and personalities may apply the skills differently, there are, nevertheless, a core set of observable

attributes in effective skill performance that are common across a range of individual differences.

Second, management skills are controllable. The performance of these behaviors is under the control of

the individual. Unlike organizational practices such as “selectively hiring,” or cognitive activities such as

“transcending fear,” skills can be consciously demonstrated, practiced, improved, or restrained by

individuals themselves. Skills may certainly engage other people and require cognitive work, but they

are behaviors that people can control themselves.

Third, management skills are developable. Performance can improve. Unlike IQ or certain personality or

temperament attributes that remain relatively constant throughout life, individuals can improvement

their competency in skill performance through practice and feedback. Individuals can progress from less

competence to more competence in management skills, and that outcome is the primary objective of

this matter.

Fourth, management skills are interrelated and overlapping. It is difficult to demonstrate just one skill in

isolation from others. Skills are not simplistic, repetitive behaviors, but they are integrated sets of

complex responses. Effective managers, in particular, must rely on combinations of skills to achieve

desired results. For example, in order to effectively motivate others, skills such as supportive

communication, influence, empowerment, and self-awareness may be required. Effective managers, in

other words, develop a constellation of skills that overlap and support one another and that allow

flexibility in managing diverse situations.

Fifth, management skills are sometimes contradictory or paradoxical. For example, the core

management skills are neither all soft and humanistic in orientation nor all hard-driving and directive.

They are oriented neither toward teamwork and interpersonal relations exclusively nor toward

individualism and technical entrepreneurship exclusively. A variety of skills are typical of the most

effective managers, and some of them appear incompatible.

To illustrate, Cameron and Tschirhart (1988) assessed the skill performance of over 500 mid-level and

upper-middle managers in about 150 organizations. The most frequently mentioned 25 management

skills taken from about a dozen studies in the academic literature (such as those in Table 0.2) were

measured. Statistical analyses revealed that the skills fell into four main groups or clusters. One group of

skills focused on participative and human relations skills (for example, supportive communication and

teambuilding), while another group focused on just the opposite, that is, competitiveness and control

(for example, assertiveness, power, and influence skills). A third group focused on innovativeness and

individual entrepreneurship (for example, creative problem solving), while a fourth group emphasized

the opposite type of skills, namely, maintaining order and rationality (for example, managing time and

rational decision making). One conclusion from that study was that effective managers are required to

demonstrate paradoxical skills. That is, the most effective managers are both participative and hard-

driving, both nurturing and competitive. They were able to be flexible and creative while also being

controlled, stable, and rational.

Early management theorists like Fayol (1949) and Barnard (1938) criticised the lack of management

education, the absence of management theory and the inadequate understanding of management

practice. As with Taylor’s (1911) approach, management was portrayed in terms of rational, systematic,

scientific processes like planning, coordination and control. The recognition of a gap between the

rhetoric of academic management thought and the reality of management practice is relatively recent

(Ashton et al, 1975; Mumford, 1988). When Mintzberg (1989) described what managers actually do, the

role was seen to be far removed from rational actions in a predictive environment. Others, equally, have

emphasized the complexities and contradictions of managerial work, and the enormous variations in the

tasks, roles and contexts of management which make generalization of the management role so elusive

(Hales, 1986; Hirsh and Bevan, 1988; Whitely, 1989; Knights, 1992). Nevertheless, it is necessary to

identify the skills and competences which are required of managers before attempting to assess skill

shortages and skill gaps. Despite the vast range and variety of activities in which managers are involved

and the fragmented nature of a ‘typical’ manager’s day, it is possible to identify managerial roles and the

skills associated with these. Mintzberg (1980), for example, includes such roles as leadership, handling

resources and negotiation in his definition of management activities. Since few individuals can aspire to

peak performance in all of these diverse roles, Belbin (1981) argued that managerial teams comprising

individuals with complementary strengths should be constructed.

In identifying the factors contributing to the execution of a particular management role, a

distinction should be drawn between skill, knowledge and understanding. Skill was defined by Hans

Renold in 1928 as ‘any combination, useful to industry, of mental and physical qualities which require

considerable training to acquire’ (More, 1980: 15). Proctor and Dutta (1995: 30), who provide an

authoritative text on skill and performance, note that ‘a defining property of skill is that it develops over

time, with practice.’ Like Renold, Proctor and Dutta include perceptual and problem-solving skills as well

motor skills. Thus skill encompasses both manual facilities, including dexterity, and conceptual ones,

including relevant knowledge and understanding. Knowledge includes underpinning theory and

concepts relevant to an area of activity, as well as tacit knowledge gained as a result of the experience

of performing tasks. Knowledge may therefore be gained through formal or informal learning, or,

typically, through both routes. Understanding refers to more holistic knowledge of processes and

contexts, and may be distinguished as know-why, as opposed know-how (skill and competence) or

know-that (knowledge). Collin (1997: 297) cites Gardner’s association of know-how with tacit

knowledge and know-that with propositional knowledge.

Types of Management Skills

Three Types of Managerial Skills

Robert Katz identifies three types of skills that are essential for a successfulmanagement process:

Technical,

Conceptual and

Human or interpersonal managerial skills.

Technical Skills

As the name of these skills tells us, they give the manager’s knowledge and ability to use different

techniques to achieve what they want to achieve.Technical skills are not related only for machines,

production tools or other equipment, but also they are skills that will be required to increase sales,

design different types of products and services, market the products and services…

For example, let’s take an individual who work in sales department and have high developed sales

skills obtained through education and experience in his department or the same departments in

different organizations. Because of these skills he possess, this person can be a perfect solution to

become sales manager because he has great technical skills related to sales.

On the other hand, one person that become sales manager immediately will start to build his next

type of required skills, because if his task until now was only to work with the customers as sales

representative, now it will need to work with employees in sales department as addition to the

work with customers.

Technical skills are most important for the first-level managers, but for the top managers, these

skills are not something with high significance level. As we go through a hierarchy from the bottom

to higher levels, the technical skills lose their importance.

Conceptual Skills

Conceptual skills present knowledge or ability of a manager for more abstract thinking.

That means he can easily see the whole through analysis and diagnosis of different states in order

to predict the future of the business or department as a whole.

Why managers need these skills?

As a first, an company have more business elements or functions as selling, marketing,

finance, production… All these business elements have different goals even completely opposed.

Think about marketing and production as a business function and their separate goals. The

conceptual skills will help managers to look outside the goals of a single business department and

make decisions that will satisfy overall business goals.Conceptual skills are vital for top managers,

less important for mid-level managers, and not required for first-level managers. As we go from a

bottom of the managerial hierarchy to the top, the importance of these skills will rise.

Human or Interpersonal Managerial Skills

Human or interpersonal managerial skills present a manager’s knowledge and ability to work with

people. One of the most important management tasks is to work with people. Without people,

there will not be a need for existence of management and managers.

These skills will enable managers to become leaders, to motivate employees for better

accomplishments, to make more effective use of human potential in the company and so on.

Simply, they are the most important skills for managers.

Interpersonal managerial skills are important for all hierarchical levels in the company.

These are the basic skills required for a successful management as a process. Some authors also

mention other skills that when I am thinking about, they are simply part of these three primary

skills.

Let’s take an example with controlling skills. The controlling can’t be a skill, but rather a proc ess, or

one of the managerial functions. Managers perform controlling through their interpersonal

managerial skills that we already described. Other additional skills that I find in the theory are

decision making skills. Again, decision making is a process and not the skill. When we have

conceptual skills, we will make a better decision. Furthermore, when we have technical skills, we

will make a better technical decision. Because of that I think that the basic skills all managers will

need are skills explained as technical, conceptual, and interpersonal managerial skills.

Essential Management Skills

1. Project Management Skills

Project management is key to the success of any business.

Project management skills are a combination of many skills including the ability to plan, organize,

budget, and manage the resources at hand. You must also be able to bring a project to completion by or

before the due date.

When a person has good management skills they are in demand by employers who recognize the value

of these skills. After all, if you can successfully manage projects to completion you are affecting the

company’s bottom line in a positive way.

Good project managers are able to work well in a team environment, and they are able to pull their

team together. They will use techniques like brainstorming to build cohesion with their team, and to

bring fresh ideas to the forefront. The team is often involved in making project decisions, although the

final decision does lie with the project manager.

2. Time Management Skills

There’s a saying “time is money” and nothing could be more true than in the business world.

A skilled manager will be able to ensure that the employee’s time is used widely and in a productive

manner. Regardless of the type of business idle time costs company’s money, because the employee is

still being paid. A top notch manager will be able to organize and delegate tasks so that there is minimal

idle time. This includes creating schedules for the day/week/month, allocating time according to the

task at hand, and breaking projects into manageable segments, then overseeing the entire process to

confirm the plan is working.

3. Conflict Management Skills

Conflict is a fact of life, and yet it is often overlooked within companies.

When conflicts arise between employees, manager, wages, policies, among other issues, managers must

have the appropriate conflict resolution skills to resolve the issue at hand. The process of conflict

resolution often involves negotiating and mediating.

However, it also involves implementing procedures within the workplace to reduce the number of

conflicts. These preventative measures are key to company running smoothly. Conflict management

skills include Developing the Code of Conduct, which will maintain the work ethics of the company. You

will also need to be a good listener and mediator so that you can talk with the employees, and actually

“hear” what the conflict is about.

4. Self Management Skills

Self-management is the ability to plan, organize, implement, and complete tasks, and then take

responsibility for your success.

It requires you to lead others, develop relationships with those individuals, and communicating clearly.

5. Team Management Skills

Team management is a key part of every organization. Necessary team management skills:

– The ability to analyze individual performance. It is important for you, as a team

leader, to thoroughly know everything about your team members.

– The ability to organize and delegate tasks effectively based on

your team members skills and talents.

– You need to have skills to deal with the various personalities people possess/

-Establish team goals with a focus on developing a common vision and meeting

those objectives.

– Ability to clearly communicate with your team and others in the workplace.

– The ability to encourage brainstorming and collaborative decision making.

6. Stress Management Skills

Stress is a very real occurrence in the work place.

It can result because the demand on resources exceeds the available resources. This can create a great

deal of pressure for one or more staff members, including yourself. Stress management skills are

important and include management.

7. People Management Skills

People management skills are key to every company.

These skills include the practice of understanding, developing, and delegating people and matching skills

to tasks at hand. People management is about leading and motivating your employees to ensure their

best performance.

8. Office Management Skills

Office management involves overseeing the office in the workplace.

It involves being able to effectively plan, organize, and control the clerical and administrative employees

within the office. This includes communicating clearly with staff, and storing the company’s data safely.

Office managers supervise clerical teams and secretarial pools. Strong office management skills are

necessary to be a good office manager. Those office management skills include:

The organization and storage of data

Paying close attention to details

Superior communication skills

Monitor and evaluate the work process

Issue department level assignments

Accounting and marketing

Budget development and implementation

Improving Management Skills

It is a bit unnerving that while average IQ scores have increased in the population over the last half-

century, emotional intelligence scores have actually declined. In the population in general, people are

less skilled at managing themselves and managing others than they were 50 years ago (Goleman, 1998).

While average IQ scores have jumped approximately 25 points, EQ among young people and adults has

fallen. Moreover, whereas the “technological float” has shrunk dramatically--that is, the time between

the introduction of a new technology and its being copied and revised is constantly decreasing and is

now measured in weeks rather than years--the “human float” has changed very little. It still takes about

the same amount of time to develop behavioral skills and human competencies as it always has. No

short-cuts or quick fixes have emerged, and the effort and practice that are required to become more

emotionally intelligent and interpersonally skilled is substantial. Progress regarding how to cope with

and manage issues relating to other people has not kept pace with technological progress, and it

remains the biggest challenge for managers.

The good news is that improvement in developing management skills has been found in both students

and managers who have been exposed to a curriculum such as the one advocated in Developing

Management Skills. For example, MBA students showed improvement of from 50 to 300 percent on

emotional intelligence skills over the course of two years by enrolling in two courses based on the

approach to developing management skills presented here. A greater amount of improvement occurred

among students who applied these skills to multiple aspects of their lives outside the classroom, and

people who were more competent to begin with made the most progress. In addition, a cohort of 45 to

55 year old executives produced the same results as the MBA students. That is, they also improved

dramatically in their management skills even though most were already experienced in senior

managerial positions (Boyatzis, 1996, 2000, in press; Boyatzis, Cowen, & Kolb, 1995; Boyatzis, Leonard,

Rhee, & Wheeler, 1996; Rhee, 1997; Leonard. 1996; Wheeler, 1999).

On the other hand, exposure to a traditional cognitive-based curriculum without exposure to

management skills development does not correlate with improvements in EQ, management skills, or

career success. For example, Cohen (1984) summarized the results of 108 studies of the relationship

between performance in college courses (as measured by grade-point average) and subsequent life

success. Life success was measured by a variety of factors, including job performance, income,

promotions, personal satisfaction, eminence, and graduate degrees. The mean correlation between

performance in school and performance in life in these studies was .18, and in no case did the

correlation exceed .20. These low correlations suggest that school performance and successful

performance in subsequent life activities are related only marginally.

The data, in other words, appear quite compelling. Attending school merely to achieve high grades in

cognitive courses, while important, is not sufficient for management, career, or life success. Going into

debt for a formal education or achieving an additional set of letters behind your name without also

developing and improving your management skills will be an unfortunate lost opportunity. That is why

we feel so strongly that in the management curriculum of universities, students should be exposed to a

learning model such as the one we describe here. Our strong feelings, of course, are not based on blind

optimism. Scientific evidence exists that such exposure can make a difference both to individuals and to

the bottom-line performance of companies.

The Critical Role of Management Skills

No one doubts that the twenty-first century will continue to be characterized by chaotic,

transformational, rapid-fire change. In fact, almost no sane person is willing to predict what

the world will be like 50, 25, or even 15 years from now. Change is just too rapid and ubiquitous.

The development of “nanobombs” have caused some people to predict that personal

computers and desktop monitors will land on the scrap heap of obsolescence within

20 years. The new computers will be a product of etchings on molecules leading to personalized

data processors injected into the bloodstream, implanted in eyeglasses, or included in

wristwatches.

Predictions of the changes that will occur in the future are often notoriously wrong, of

course, as illustrated by Thomas Watson’s (founder of IBM) prediction that only a few dozen

computers would ever be needed in the entire world, Thomas Edison’s prediction that the

lightbulb would never catch on, or Irving Fisher’s (preeminent Yale economist) prediction in

1929 (a month before the crash) that the stock market had reached “a permanently high

plateau.” When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969, most people predicted that

we would soon be walking on Mars, establishing colonies in outer space, and launching

probes from lunar pads. In 1973, with long lines at the gas pumps due to an OPEC-led fuel

crisis, economists predicted that oil would sell for $100 a barrel in the United States by 1980.

Most notorious of all, of course, was the prediction by the United States patent office in 1896

that it would soon close its doors since “everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Warren Bennis, a colleague of ours, half-jokingly predicted that the factory of the future

would have only two employees, a person and a dog. The person would be there to feed the

dog. The dog would be there to keep the person from touching the equipment! Tom Peters

counseled managers that, due to the chaotic pace of change, “If you’re not confused, you’re

not paying attention.” And the late Peter Drucker characterized the current environment

this way: “We are in one of those great historical periods that occur every 200 or 300 years

when people don’t understand the world anymore, and the past is not sufficient to explain

the future.” Almost no one would argue that “permanent white water” best characterizes

our current environment. Almost everything is in flux, from our technology and methods of

transacting business to the nature of education and the definition of the family.

Despite all this change in our environment, there is something that has remained, and

continues to remain, relatively constant. With minor variations and stylistic differences,

what has not changed in several thousand years are the basic skills that lie at the heart of

effective, satisfying, growth-producing human relationships. Freedom, dignity, trust, love,

and honesty in relationships have always been among the goals of human beings, and the

same principles that brought about those outcomes in the eleventh century still bring them

about in the twenty-first century. Despite our circumstances, in other words, and despite

the technological resources we have available to us, the same basic human skills still lie at

the heart of effective human interaction. In fact, human relationships are becoming more important, not

less, as the information age unfolds and technologies encroach even more upon our daily lives. Most of

us are exposed to more information each day than we can possibly pay attention to. More

than 6,000 business books are published each month. Moreover, no mechanism exists to

organize, prioritize, or interpret that information, so it is often unclear what is crucial and

what can be ignored. Consequently, the relationship we have with the sources of that

information is the key sense-making mechanism. Building trusting relationships is a critical

part of coping with information overload.

It is a fact that when everything is changing, change becomes unmanageable. No one

can manage constant, unorganized change. Think of being a pilot on an airplane.

Everything is changing—the entire plane is in constant motion—as the plane moves

through the air. Unless you can fix on something that is not changing—for example, the

ground or the stars—it is impossible to fly the plane. Tragically, investigators found that

John F. Kennedy Jr. unknowingly flew his plane into the Atlantic Ocean killing himself, his

wife, and his sister-in-law because he lost sight of land and, consequently, lost perspective.

He became unable to manage change because he did not have an established, unwavering

point that helped him maintain his bearings.

We make sense of change by being able to identify a fixed, stable, permanent point

that provides us with perspective. In our current “white water” environment, the skills discussed

in this book serve as fixed points. They have changed very little in their effectiveness

and relevance over several thousand years. And their relationship to effective human

and organizational performance has been well-documented. Later in this Introduction we

share some of the scientific research that confirms the power of these management skills in

accounting for effective personal, interpersonal, and organizational performance.

The problem, of course, is that what is known is not always the same as what is

demonstrated. Although we have known about the principles of effective relationships for

a very long time, the history of humankind illustrates that these principles have not

always been practiced. Especially in our current day, what we know and what we demonstrate

do not always match.

Ten Essential Leadership Skills for Managers

Managers, in most organizations, have a dual responsibility. They are responsible both to the

organization and to the people in the organization. The common question that arises is how do

managers deal with this dual role? The answer is somewhat ambiguous, but explores the difference

between management and leadership.Leadership is the ability to empower others to create new

management or human systems to efficiently achieve change through organizational goals and decision

making. Likewise, management is the use of various means to carry on business functions. In other

words, management is the skill of dealing with things, while leadership is the art of dealing with people.

Managers can direct budgets, projects, and business affairs, but only leaders can empower people to

direct these same functions

According to Max DePree (1992) who is the former CEO of Herman Miller and author of numerous

books, “leadership combines the unpredictability of the future with the gifts of individuals”. In other

words, it is the individuality and interpersonal relationships that define leadership. Through these skills,

managers at all levels will better understand his or her leadership roles within organizations. What

follows is a brief discussion of each of these leadership skills. As you read through this paper, remember

the definition of leadership and the differences between management and leadership.

Goal Setting

Setting goals is a very important first step on the path to becoming a more effective leader. While

managers surely set goals and work to achieve those goals, leaders operationalize goals through

teamwork. Accomplishing goals becomes more than a task, it becomes a creative expression of

leadership style. Setting goals is an important leadership skill because it encourages compliance,

establishes evaluative criteria, and sets a plan for the future (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 1993).

Likewise, goals should be specific, measurable, and realistic enough to be attainable. In essence, goal

setting is the first step in leadership and the last step in success.

Team Building

Creating a team-like atmosphere is a leadership skill that would enhance any manager’s repertoire of

available skills. Many managers who create and work in teams would benefit from enhanced team

building skills. According to DePree (1989), the importance of team building is that “everyone has the

right and the duty to influence decision-making and to understand the results” (p. 24). Through team

building, leaders include others in participative management – allowing others to have some say into

how things are accomplished and how work is done (DePree, 1989). A few helpful hints for building a

cohesive team include: create a purpose; identify potential members and define their role within the

group; empower others to do their jobs; praise the group for accomplishments; and encourage

openness and togetherness in decision making (Belzer, 1991). Effective leaders are open to the new

ideas and new ways of thinking that a team atmosphere can offer – after all, a team can be only as good

(effective) as its leader.

Empowerment

Many managers have mastered the skill of delegation – giving someone something to do. But to be an

effective leader, one must master the art of empowerment. Delegation alone is simply assigning a task

for someone to complete under the manager’s direction. Empowerment is authorizing someone to take

the lead in making decisions about completing the same task. In other words, when a leader empowers

others, he or she is allowing them the freedom to make choices – good or bad, right or wrong. And

leaders are judged by how well others succeed when empowered. The measure of an effective leader is

the ability to prepare others for this responsibility. Therefore, it is critical to empower others to be their

best – ensuring success. In Leadership Jazz, DePree (1992) suggests three lessons in empowering others

towards success:

1) provide clear and concise directions;

2) display confidence that the task will be accomplished effectively and on time; and

3) trust in your ability to prepare others for this responsibility as well as their ability to respond to your

trust. These lessons will serve every manager well on his or her path to becoming a better leader.

Vision

One key difference between managers and leaders is that true leadership involves the development of

a vision. Likewise, this vision must be articulated to the organization in such a way as to both have

meaning and stir a reaction. This is one of the most difficult tasks of a leader. Operationalizing a vision

requires more than simply knowing a direction for the organization – a leader must communicate that

vision simply, theatrically, and forcefully .

According to James Kouzes and Barry Posner (1995), to bring others along on this journey called vision,

leaders must find common ground and develop a common language, passionately share the vision with

others, and be sincere in their motives and ideas. In essence, a vision can serve as a ticket to lifelong

learning for every member of the organization. A vision should detail the future of the organization and

the path that will be followed as this future unfolds. Again, according to DePree (1989), leadership is

taking responsibility for what happens tomorrow instead of managing day-to-day. This future-focused

attitude is the essence of vision.

Time Management

Like goal setting, time management is a traditional leadership skill that will serve managers well. Its

application to leadership is strong and it is how leaders effectively accomplish tasks. The need for time

management skills increases exponentially with success; the more one experiences success, the less

time he or she has to devote to that success (Rehnquist, 1995). Several time management tips that

might be useful to develop include: learn to say no; finish what you start; plan what you will do for the

day; and clear your desk at the end of each day. Each of these tips, both collectively and individually,

allows leaders to feel better prepared for the tasks that lay ahead. Time management is not a quick fix

that lasts forever. It is, instead, life management requiring significant changes in both a leaders habits

and leadership style – it is organizing yourself and knowing your limits. Again, William Rehnquist (1995)

suggests “time is a commodity the supply of which is not inexhaustible.

Communication

Interpersonal communication skills are important for effective leadership. Leaders, by definition, deal

with people, therefore, interpersonal communication skills should be ranked among the most important

tools a leader can possess. Like all relationships, open and honest communication must exist for the

organization to run effectively and to survive over time. In understanding communication, one must first

understand the process. Communication occurs when someone sends a message and someone else

receives that message. The process becomes complicated when noise gets in the way – noise like our

biases, beliefs, values, or opinions. It is this noise that interrupts the message from being received or

delivered effectively and causes confusion between sender and receiver. Removing this noise requires

concentration and a commitment to openly and honestly listen to one another. Communication, in

essence, involves making promises – promises to those we lead, those we follow, and to everyone in the

organization. Effective communication, in turn, is living up to these promises (DePree, 1992).

Conflict Resolution

Conflict is a clash between opposing ideas, is present in every organization, and is unavoidable. Some

conflict occurs when leaders are inconsistent in their actions towards stated goals (Hughes, Ginnett, &

Curphy, 1993). However, some degree of conflict can be helpful to the organization to “bolster

innovation and performance through competition and higher productivity” (Hughes, et al, p. 365). In

fact, good leaders should not avoid conflict, but should embrace it as a means for organizational change

and growth.

Resolving conflict is simply allowing organized conflict to happen while being prepared to step in and

facilitate should the conflict become destructive. Resolving conflict is a skill that should only occur when

the conflict becomes unhealthy for the organization. Prior to thatpoint, good leaders have built a team

that is confident in their skills, has trust in one another, and can work through the differences and

disagreements that lead to conflict. However, at the point when conflict becomes destructive, DuPree

(1992) suggests that leaders focus on the issues underlying the conflict instead of on the personalities of

the parties involved. In other words, when managing conflict, deal with the things that matter –get to

the facts.

Risk

As managers, to grow and develop our leadership skills, one must be prepared to assume risk. Risk is

exposure to possible failure and requires the leader to expose him or herself to the judgment and

scrutiny of others. Assuming a leadership role involves living in a glass house whereby others are looking

for a role model – for someone who will show the way and direct the organization into the future.

Leaders are accountable for their actions, words, and decisions. DePree (1989) suggests that risk

involves the leader giving up control of organizational decision making by involving others while still

being ultimately responsible for the decisions being made – and accountable not only for the actions of

themselves, but for the actions of everyone else. Taking risks is hard for many of us, but in order to grow

as a leader, we must be willing to put ourselves on the line.

Diversity

Leaders have a responsibility to ensure diversity in their organizationsand to respect the diversity of

those around them. We live in a multicultural world where diversity comes in many forms – one’s ability,

race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, just to name a few. We can deal with this diversity,

and with our own biases and stereotypes, by asking ourselves a few simple questions:

1. Are my biases and stereotypes influencing my actions or decisions?

2. Do I typically respect the opinions of others? If no, why not?

3. Do I easily adapt to change in my workplace or other environment?

4. Am I easily offended or do I offend others?

Prizing diversity is a truly effective means of leadership and is inclusive of everyone around us. Leaders

need to “derive strength from human bonds rather than building walls out of human differences”

(DePree, 1992, p. 62). Indeed, this is a model for effective leadership and a very powerful statement.

Ethics

For many managers, ethics is simply conforming to a set of professional rules, guidelines, and

regulations. However, for leaders, ethics is the moral reasoning behind decision making. This moral

reasoning comes from deep within us and defines who we are at the core of our being. In order to be

consistent in our reasoning, we must learn to identify and understand what drives us and embrace our

own morality – this is how leaders make ethical decisions. Such decisions involve questions of “what is

the right thing to do?”and can only be answered based on our core values and beliefs. Ethics is what

drives a leader in their decision making and upon discovery and action, is a valuable skill ensuring

effective leadership.The path for managers to embark upon to grow and develop leadership skills begins

with the discussion and operationalization of these ten essential skills. Managers have the power to get

things done within organizations, but is this enough? DePree (1992) suggests that “good leadership

includes teaching and learning, building relationships and influencing people, as opposed to exercising

one’s power”. Moving beyond the skills of management into the art of leadership is essential to

becoming a successful leader. The truly effective manager will embrace this change.

Conclusion

All successful managers possess a similar set of skills. It doesn’t matter whether the managers are in IT, Finance or Customer service there are certain skills, knowledge and attributes which are essential requirements for performing the role well. Developing and acquiring these skills through management training courses helps people to excel in a management role and vastly improves career progression opportunities. It is vital that a manager can establish and communicate a clear direction to his/her people. The objectives should be discussed and agreed with people and adequate resources identified and made available in order to achieve required outcomes. Managers need good written and verbal communication skills. They must be able to get their point across in an open and direct way and build positive relationships with their people, their peers and their bosses. Good Managers know how to work with others to maximize performance. To get the most from people it is beneficial to have coaching, mentoring and facilitating skills. The ability to manage performance and provide constructive, encouraging feedback are also key elements to supporting and developing people. Being able to weigh up several different options, make effective decisions and take appropriate action is all part of being an efficient Manager. Having good judgment and knowing when the time is right to implement decisions is crucial to appearing credible in the role. Managers who can inspire and motivate their people to raise their levels of performance and achieve their potential are far more successful than those who struggle in this area. Rewarding and recognizing achievement and encouraging people to achieve their personal best is the key to successful management. The skills involved can be defined by the organization concerned, or by third party institutions. They are usually defined in terms of a skills framework, also known as a competency framework or skills matrix. This consists of a list of skills, and a grading system, with a definition of what it means to be at particular level for a given skill. To be most useful, skills management must be an ongoing process, where individuals assess and update their recorded skill sets regularly. These updates should occur at least as frequently as employees' regular line manager reviews, and certainly when their skill sets change. Skills management systems record the results of this process in a database, and allow analysis of the data, typically to assist with project staffing or hiring decisions.To perform management functions and assume multiple roles, managers must be skilled. Robert Katz identified three managerial skills essential to successful management: technical, human, and conceptual. Technical skill involves process or technique

knowledge and proficiency. Managers use the processes, techniques and tools of a specific area. Human skill involves the ability to interact effectively with people. Managers interact and cooperate with employees. Conceptual skill involves the formulation of ideas. Managers understand abstract relationships, develop ideas, and solve problems creatively. Thus, technical skill deals with things, human skill concerns people, and conceptual skill has to do with ideas.A manager's level in the organization determines the relative importance of possessing technical, human, and conceptual skills. Top level managers need conceptual skills that let them view the organization as a whole. Conceptual skills are used in planning and dealing with ideas and abstractions. Supervisors need technical skills to manage their area of specialty. All levels of management need human skills so they can interact and communicate with other people successfully. As the pace of change accelerates and diverse technologies converge, new global industries are being created (for example, telecommunications). Technological change alters the fundamental structure of firms and calls for new organizational approaches and management skills. There are different types of skills in the corporate world. Soft Skills, communication skills, business writing, corporate presentation, public speaking, sales, marketing, leadership and managerial skills are few of the skills.

References

1. Management A Global perspective- Harold Koontz, Heinz Weihrich.

2. Developing Management Skills- David A Whetten.

3. http://www.businesszone.co.uk/blogs/thalestraining/learning-and-development/5-essential-

management-skills

4. http://managementhelp.org/management/theories.htm

5. How To Improve Your Leadership and Management Skills- Meir Liraz.

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skills_management

7. Ten Essential Leadership Skills For Managers- T. Hampton Hopkins