Defining an Effective Manager

How do you define an effective manager? Some thoughts to get you thinking!

1. A strategic thinker with an outward focus.
2. A flexible, innovative risk taker.
3. Open to new ideas.
4. An effective communicator and delegator.
5. Able to assess data and make decisions quickly.
6. Able to manage and create change.

Encourage all managers to:

1. Gain a Global Perspective. Traditional markets are no longer enough. A broader perspective is needed to identify and understand customers and prospects ... at home and abroad.
2. Let Go. In flatter organizations, managers have to relinquish some authority to staff. This approach actually makes managers more important to the organization. They lose authority based on hierarchical position and create their own authority based on their ability to be effective coaches and mentors. 
3. Adjust to a New Span of Control. Organizations today require managers to have more direct reports and spend more time coaching. To find the time, managers wean themselves from micromanaging subordinates work. With many more direct reports, you can focus only on key issues .... not trivia.
4. Collaborate Across Functions. Today's management decisions must incorporate many different perspectives. managers need negotiation skills to deal effectively with different parts of their organization and with people over whom they have no authority.
5. Acquire New Skills. Managers have to learn to achieve strategic goals in a fast moving, ever changing environment. They still have to plan, coordinate, direct, implement and control. Yet they also have to know when control is counterproductive and become more innovative, creative and flexible.