HOW ARE YOU MANAGING TO LEAD?

Management and Leadership are two important roles and it is best if they work together. As manager you are guiding and controlling and as leader you are visioning, modeling, and motivating.

In the earlier times of business, the role of a manager was not that complex. The manager oversaw what employees did. People performed or were fired. This traditional boss is no longer effective and no longer welcome. Management today is more complex.

As manager you are responsible for the performance of your team, your business, or your company. The buck stops with you. However, that does not mean that you do everything yourself. It also does not mean that you offload your responsibility to your employees. It means that you get results by working with your people. You do this by properly delegating with confidence. You must be confident because you can only delegate tasks and authority. You don’t delegate your responsibility. You are ultimately the responsible party.

An effective manager must successfully perform these five functions.

Planning involves establishing and planning the goals of your team. You establish the goals of your department which are aligned to the organization’s goals. If you lead the company you must establish the vision, values and align goals and objectives. Communicate this throughout the entire team.

Organizing involves putting the processes in place so that you and your team can serve your customers.   When you organize you put everything in place so that you can execute your plan.   You develop an internal infrastructure which includes standardized policies and procedures that makes business operation run smoothly.

Staffing involves selecting the right people for your team or your business.   This is one of the most important functions in my opinion. You must understand your needs and select the person that fulfills those needs. Skills and ability are important; however, you must be certain that you hire a person that shares your organization’s values and culture. Aside from hiring you may also need to assign people for specific projects, events, or do a weekly staffing schedule.

Motivating your team is arguably the most important function of management since management involves getting results through others. Since you are ultimately responsible you will only be successful if your team succeeds. People do not leave jobs; they leave managers. On the other hand, a great manager will inspire and motivate his or her team toward the successful achievement of goals.

Finally, a manager measures and evaluates what goes on and the results produced. Measurement, evaluation, and feedback are continuous processes. You need to take corrective actions when things go off course. That might involve changing processes and procedures, readjusting goals and timetables or working with your team to resolve performance and motivation issues.

A Manager does not become competent by knowing all the individual jobs of the team.   Sometimes new managers know the jobs of the staff but don’t know the five functions of management. A new manager must become proficient in the five management functions to continue to deliver team results.

Let us help you lead your team and manage your business.

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