Leading to Manage: Steps to Be an Effective Manager

Everyone has worked with someone that time after time dictates work to others and then turns around and micro manages the product without giving credit to those completing the work. Work centers with this type of management always have down falls and the potential for failure is immense. Leading to manage is a slogan I have always used in my years of management. When a business person wants to be an effective manager they must lead others and manager at the same time. I will help you understand through my experiences in management how to be an effective manager by leading to manage in these five very simple, but yet complicated, steps.

Step 1: Inspire Others to Follow a Shared Vision

In order to inspire others you must lead them and allow them to follow toward a shared vision. The key characteristic of a successful leader and manager is the ability to have a strong vision for the future of a project(s) and to be able to efficiently communicate that to his/her followers. C reative thinkers must thrive on change and have the ability to draw new precincts. I have worked for a few leaders and have worked with many managers over the years and I can honestly say those that effectively led me received a quality work product before the suspense date, because I wanted to do the work. In other words, I felt a sense of purpose. Managers that merely dictated the work received a good work product, but did not gain my trust or enthusiasm to complete the product. I didn't care if that dictator failed or succeeded, because I didn't feel a working connection with the poor management. I always try to motivate my subordinates, not through poor management or incentives, but through a vision that was shared between me and them.

Step 2: Learn Excellent Communication Skills

An extremely important attribute of any manager is to be able to successfully communicate the vision and objective to the employees completing the work. I have seen it too many times where a project fails or the team is disgruntled because of poor communication. Communication is not always a given and must sometimes be learned in order to be effective. Communication necessitates listening skills, feedback skills, presentation skills, and writing skills. The ability to communicate openly and directly can in and of itself be a true motivator. I believe that if communication fails then the team has failed. If the team fails then the job fails. Ultimately, when there is successful communication then the employees, teams, and projects will succeed.

Step 3: Gain Knowledge of Managing Conflict

When you are effectively leading and managing teams then conflict is simply a speed bump versus and road closing, so to speak. It is very important for managers to be proficient in handling conflicts. In order to efficiently manage conflict a manager must be able look for and identify the functional and dysfunctional conflicts within the business. In addition, managers must be able to understand and process the necessary resolutions to conflict. Furthermore, managers must choose the correct strategy to utilize in order to cope with the conflict. Lastly, managers must learn the necessary skills in promoting productive conflicts to help promote work completion. Not all conflict is bad conflict. We have all ran into a situation where the work won't be completed on time or is too expensive based on the budget. For an inefficient manager this becomes a road block, but for an efficient manager this is merely a speed bump and when including the entire team with a positive attitude the conflict can easily be solved.

Step 4: Maintain Composure under Pressure and Effectively Solve Problems

When under immense pressures people sometimes break down emotionally and sometimes even physically. If a manager is unable to handle pressure then they will look as though they cannot handle the complexities of the job and this will be seen by all those beneath the manager. Ultimately, the manager will fail at the mission if they cannot effectively solve problems and maintain their composure under the pressures that they will indeed face. To begin managers must be able to pin point the problem and analyze it. In addition, managers must be able to identify the cause or causes of the problem. Furthermore, managers must develop strategies and choose the best strategy to solve the problem. Lastly, managers must implement and evaluate the efficiency of the decision they chose to use.

Step 5: Build Strong Teams and Efficiently Delegate Tasks

The last step to be an effective manager is through team building. A leader/manager that can successfully build teams must have strength and be able to provide the essence that holds a team together. In addition, they must be able to properly guide the team toward a common purpose and ultimately objective completion. To be effective the leader/manager must know the people within the group and be able to understand the different cultures within their team. Furthermore, the leader must be able to capitalize on their different team members' styles. Lastly, the team must trust their leader or the team will potentially fail. A little phrase I always like to use with my team is, "first impressions do count and can last forever; sometimes you cannot change what people have already perceived you to be." As a leader you have followers that trust you, once that trust has been broken, you will never get it back.

I hope you have seen, through my personal experiences and perspectives as a manager, that these steps to be an effective manager can lead to task success. Most importantly, when someone is leading to manage they will grow a team of followers that will be highly motivated to complete any complex task you effectively communicate.