A manager, loosely defined, is somebody who manages an organization or business. To manage is not that easy. After all, some companies can be quite large. We are talking annual income rivaling the GDP of many less-industrialized countries! Good management, however, is essential to reach this coveted stage, and that would mean that the management has to be both effective and efficient. This also applies to smaller business enterprises.
How to test yourself and know if you are a good manager or whether you have the qualities to become a good manager? Here’s how it works.
So what qualities define a good manager? To know the goal of the organization and to achieve those goals with minimum resources and maximum effectiveness is the first goal of any manager. The goal to increase sales, for instance, is the goal of most businesses regardless of size, so an effective manager would be able to achieve this with the bare minimum of resources. A much larger and all-encompassing goal would be to increase profits, and this can be done through a number of things that synergize a business – better employee effectiveness and interpersonal relations, raising prices and/or cutting costs and the aforementioned improvement of sales.
One important factor that at times overrides all others is vision. What is the manager’s vision that he/she has in mind for the organization? Does the manager look at a big picture and plan for tomorrow, and does he/she work strategically? It is very important to create policies that are analogous to the organization’s goals, and vision can help with that. Change is the one constant in business. It is a dynamic mix of many forces that has to be managed to move in a single direction. The test of a manger lies in doing this.
Vision is by far the most important factor that good managers must possess, and we shall now discuss this in brief. What is the vision of the manager about the organization? How does the manager look at the future and what is larger game plan? These are very important to formulate policies, which will satisfy the goals of the organization. Change can be good. Compare your organization to a football side in action, a winning one, that is – eleven men on the field playing different positions, yet unified in their pursuit of success. Who knows, but you just might be to your organization what Sir Alex Ferguson is to Man UTD. These requirements should be all the framework you need to do your own self-test – where do you excel and where do you need to improve? Knowing your areas of improvement could help you improve them, and subsequently how well you fare as a manager. If you are in need of self-realization, a few online Business & Career quizzes might be a real eye-opener for you. The tests will help you greatly in finding out more about yourself.
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