Managers Who Make a Difference.Indd

Introduction WHAT IS A MANAGER? A manager is someone who gets things done. He starts with an objective given to him by others (organization, department, top management, superiors or bosses, etc.). He understands and interprets his goals. He sets out an action plan and mobilizes the resources (men, material, money or budgets and other support) required to achieve them. He then sets about achieving his goal, monitoring the progress along the way. Once upon a time, that was the definition of a manager, Over the last couple of decades, however, the world has changed radically. Communication and connectivity has increased, cities have grown, and we have been buffeted by immense social forces. Here are just some of those changes that impact our workplace today: f People’s preferences have come into sharper focus f Consumerism and commercialization has increased f Economic activity has gone up leading to greater employment opportunities and accessibility f Education levels are going up Managers who make a difference.indd 9 12/15/10 1:15:15 PM f Talented people are scarcer f People have become more conscious of their rights and have become less negotiable. Concerns about health and well-being have increased f People have become more conscious of costs and benefits f Choices have increased f Relationships have become more complex. Divorces have increased and new phenomena like same-sex marriages, live- in relationships, and cross-cultural marriages have come into existence f Modern organizations have become flat and yet some continue to be hierarchical f Ethical issues have come into focus The definition of a manager has to change with changing times. The implication is that a manager’s job is to set new goals, new standards, recruit new people, mobilize new resources, review methods, set and reset new technologies, etc. The thrust is more on the dynamic process here. The manager is a dynamic entity and not merely an achiever of someone else’s goals. The modern manager may be required to initiate new goals, define a vision, and chart out a course of action. TYPES OF MANAGERS From my work and interactions with managers I classify them into four categories: 1. Doers: These are managers who get things done. Though they are not extraordinary, they are necessary in the workplace. They do routine jobs. They take life as it comes. Managers Who Make a Difference x Managers who make a difference.indd 10 12/15/10 1:15:15 PM They may not have ambitions, but they work hard enough to sustain their jobs and progress at a normal rate in the organization. Without them the company may not be able to run. However, if they leave, another manager will fill their position. The Doer Managers can be further classified into ‘committed doers’ and ‘shirkers’. Shirkers try to find short cuts and try to do much less than what they are expected to do. We do not deal with them in this book. The ‘Doer Managers’ are sincere and hard-working managers. 2. Achievers: These managers do more than what they are required to. Many of them are outstanding. Achievers are smart managers and they work hard and get things done fast. They are noticed in the corporation and considered as assets. They have career ambitions but do not have a mission or purpose in life beyond that. They are willing to move to any company that pays them a higher salary or uses their competencies better. They are career managers. If luck favours them they may become CEOs at a relatively young age. 3. Visionaries or entrepreneurs: Visionaries are leaders. They are restless, creative, and they think big. They have long-term goals. They want to make an impact on the organization and are largely driven by creation of wealth for themselves and others around them. Thus, they make a lasting mark on society. These managers are found in various fields— government, social services, industry, trade, and commerce. They are often entreprenuers and empire builders. Personal wealth is often their distinguishing trait. Deepak Parekh, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Narayana Murthy, Kiran Mazumdar- Shaw, Venu Srinivasan, Anil Khandelwal, Shiv Nadar, Azim Premji, Sunil Mittal, Vijay Mallya, A.M. Naik, Mukesh Ambani, Introduction xi Managers who make a difference.indd 11 12/15/10 1:15:15 PM Anil Ambani, and many IIM graduates like Sharath Babu all fit into this group. 4. Missionaries: These managers are mission driven. Their goals are not personal but more social and community related. They are highly driven by their goals, and there is an element of sacrifice involved in what they do. Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr Verghese Kurien, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Ila Bhatt, Kiran Bedi, and Vikram Sarabhai are all examples of missionaries. Type 3 managers may also qualify to be in this category the moment they focus single-mindedly on social objectives rather than empire building. One such example is Narayana Murthy. As managers, our goal might usually stop at type 3—after all, the visionary is the archetypical manager and not all of us want to change society. However, all of us have missionary elements in our nature and it is important we acknowledge type 4 as the ultimate kind of manager. The distinction between types 1 and 2 is sometimes blurred. The distinction between types 2 and 3 is clear. Type 2 managers are employees while type 3 are usually self-employed or employers. There are, however, various exceptions to this. For example, Deepak Parekh is mission driven but a professional manager and Verghese Kurien was appointed by the Government of India to head the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for several years and brought in the white revolution. Types 3 and 4 dedicate their lives to one cause. While type 1 and type 2 shift organizations when it suits their career goals; as they settle down and find their vocation or cause and substitute it as a mission they become type 3 and when they make sacrifices and influence large numbers of people they become type 4. All four types described above are managers. Types 2, 3, and 4 Managers Who Make a Difference xii Managers who make a difference.indd 12 12/15/10 1:15:15 PM are also leaders but the degree of their leadership varies. Type 2 managers demonstrate several leadership competencies in terms of setting standards and coming up with new ideas in their sphere of activity. Type 3’s leadership competencies are in identifying new areas of activity and setting new goals. They are entrepreneurial leaders and their spheres may vary from small to large to empire building. Some of them may even rewrite the rules like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Narayana Murthy, Deepak Parekh, Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Mahajan, and move closer to type 4. However, some of them may not yet be identifiable as type 4, as the most distinguishing feature of this type is being mission driven and making personal sacrifices for the sake of larger goals and not for personal wealth. Some of the characteristics of the four types of managers are presented in table 1 . THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD MANAGER Imagine the four levels of managers to be four rungs of a ladder. Your aim is to climb as high as you can. One of the objectives of this book is to help those in type 1 to move to 2, those in type 2 to 3, and the ones in type 3 to 4. This book is based on two beliefs. First, that the better a manager you are, the bigger your vision is and the more value-led you are. While I will focus on the core skills you will need to be an effective manager, I will constantly point to the highest level to which all managers should aspire. Second, that the managers who make a difference exhibit certain qualities that can be emulated and developed. Their thought processes, outlook, values, and motives can all be acquired. Managers are not born, they can be made and each one of us has the capacity to extend ourselves. As a result I have emphasized human resource (HR) tools such as Introduction xiii Managers who make a difference.indd 13 12/15/10 1:15:15 PM Managers who make adifference.indd 14 Table 1: TYPES OF MANAGERS Area Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Life Goals Do one’s job, To be outstanding To be independent; to To work for a cause; to perhaps do it well; and high achiever; to do something different; be value driven; to keep growing in be noticed and make to serve a cause; to think, dream, live the career a difference; to do attain highest possible mission for which one one’s work well or to type in one’s chosen is working; to benefit an outstanding field; to be a self-starter a large section of the degree that it gets or self-employed; to society; to extend noticed; build career; provide employment themselves and serve use one’s potential and other opportunities others; to work for for others; to create unusual groups, wealth for self, family, weaker sections, poor and others closer to people, the less them and perhaps fortunate, and so on; society at large focus on super- 12/15/10 1:15:15 PM ordinate goals Managers who make adifference.indd 15 Mission No mission Career related; self Larger mission; work for Totally mission driven; focused mission a cause; self-focused lives to achieve the and at the same time mission; directed at integrates community or others primarily and is larger group goals into willing to make self sacrifices Values May or may not be Articulates values Value driven; focused on Highly value driven; specific and has clarity culture; could be integrates mission and specialist values values; character, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, values required for a healthy society; Promotes actively these values among those

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