Business Management Through the Ages | Leadership

By RivSchoel
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You might be a newly promoted entry level manager at a large corporation. Or, you may be a freshly minted entrepreneur. Alternatively, you could be a seasoned manager with many years experience within the corporate world. What all of you have in common is that you can benefit from better techniques in business management.

Management can be compared to the game of chess. The basic rules and tenets can be learned in a week, however mastery often takes a lifetime. Leadership is both an innate and learned talent. Some of us are born leaders. Others require much study and practice to assume the mantle of being a business executive.

Although the buzzwords have evolved from "winning friends and influencing people" of the early 1900's to todays "social networking", the core tenets of management have remained surprisingly similar and simple. Experts and pundits dress it up within catchy phrases and slick powerpoints. However, the most important elements of managing can be derived from simple common sense. The first obvious, but little followed, rule is to put yourself in the shoes of your employee.

How would you perceive yourself as a boss should you have to work for yourself? This is an important reflection all managers should ponder. Most, however, remain focused on their own needs and problems ignoring the perspective of those working under them. This often proves to be a critical business mistake leading to staff disloyalty. Once you have lost the respect and loyalty of your employees, your mission becomes close to impossible.

It may be cliche, but the adage of "leading from in front" exists for good reason. Commerce can be analogous to battle, and in both scenarios the troops will fight hardest for the leader who has garnered the most respect and admiration. This most often results from the leader exhibiting the willingness to get into the trenches with his troops not viewing any task too menial. Many managers operate in an ivory tower. They are aloof and detached from the daily grind of their staff. Common sense portends the fate of such executives.

Communication within the corporate world has been studied, critiqued, and lampooned. Nearly everyone has a story about a current or former boss who is incapable of actually listening to what others are saying. Similarly, a majority of managers are unable to effectively convey an idea, order, thought or desire. The employee is left to guess as to what the boss requires. The fate of this team is usually the same as a football offensive squad who can not hear the signals yelled by its quarterback above the roar of the crowd.

The realm of management most dreaded by many executives relates to when employees don't fulfill your expectations. Many managers are at one extreme end of the spectrum or the other when it comes to this arena. Some are extraordinarily harsh and unduly mean. This creates fear, which perversely many managers desire. However, I challenge you to identify a famous successful manager who was more feared than he or she was respected. Other managers are at the other extreme, unable to mete out any discipline whatsoever. Neither end of this spectrum is desirable. Striking the medium being able to properly motivate and reinforce correct behavior amongst staff is an art learned over a lifetime in business management.

One of the more trickier facets of management surrounds employee discipline. Inevitably, within any organization, a manager will be faced with this often unpleasant task. Managing the star employee is easy. Improving the weakest worker is the sign of a great manager. It is not possible to formulate a universal guide to employee discipline. Each person, hence employee, is unique. One general rule of thumb, however, will serve all new managers well. Praise in public, discipline in private.

From the time someone opened the first arrowhead trading hut in front of his cave, the challenges of running a business and managing people have been with us. Managing is more art than science and is never perfected. The best managers continually educate themselves, test their former theories, and they are willing to adapt to changing circumstances. Learn from the best history has to give us. Most have not been shy explaining exactly how they manage and the philosophies behind their actions. Take advantage of their largesse.

About the Author

Visit this site for many fascinating information on business management subjects in general, and for particular subjects such as: where to find an Mp3 Audio Book on your desired business subjects. By Riv Schoel

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