Qualities of an Effective Leader

An effective manager plays a vital role in the operation of a company. A strong manager in a modern day company should posses certain qualities. He must be honest, communicative, presentable, adaptable to change and most of all he must be able to motivate his team. By owning such qualities an effective manager is able to have a positive impact on a firms performance such as a rise in profits, market share and shareholder happiness. Throughout the course of this report we will touch on these key themes by comparing and analysing various sources.

A perfect example of an effective leader is Sir Alex Ferguson manager of the football team Manchester united. Through his management skills, he has taken the club to being the most successful English football club in recent times. His job includes managing the team, the staff as well as keeping the owner happy on a micro level; managing players emotions without affecting their performance. His biography tells us that even when he joined Manchester united here was disappointment form his players.

However that quickly changed with Manchester united winning the premier league from 1992-1993. This shows that he was able to see past his failure and bounce back from it. An article called Business management: Success - it's all in the team describes that effective management may not be solely dependent on the manger themselves but the team as well. The article describes how a woman named Diane has exceptional delegation skills which allowed her business to operate efficiently.

Although she had no experience of how to run a business she managed to put a team together and appointed a general manager and an internal accountant. The article also talks about another person Arthur, who is not educated in management theory and has no clue what a balance sheet is. However he's very strategic. By being streetwise and in control he has managed to gain his staffs trust. In contrast the article talks about an investors who is highly intelligent and skilled at product development.

However he lacks communication skills and is a control freak, which has led to poor management resulting in his business barely surviving for the first few years. To sum up, this article basically states that in order for effective management to take place a manager had to be able to identify his strengths and weaknesses and build on these. When these are assessed owners are than able to surround themselves with a team that completes them causing effective management to take place.

A novel called The Goal by Dr Eliyahu M. Goldratt first published in 1984 has been used in the world of business as a case study in management. The novel is focused around a person called Alex Rogo manager of a production plant owned by Unico Manufacturing, which is performing poorly. Things are always behind schedule and the future of the production plant is not looking well. At the beginning of the book Alex is told by a company executive that he has 3 months to turn things around. The book than goes on explaining he turns the plant around through identifying bottlenecks which are the constraints of the company.

By identifying weaknesses in the manufacturing process he's able to build on it and turn his company around. The novel also explains how communication is key in effective management. Through communication he's able to discuss and solve any problems that have arisen with his team, which helped him turn the plant around. By being more communicative Alex Rogo is than able to manage his relationship with his wife more effectively which in turn fixed his marriage. During our research we also read an article called “Effective Management” – by: Margaret Francis, MSW, M. Phil,PGDCIM.

The article solely focuses on how the good qualities and skills of a manager are the backbone of effective management. The article states that a good manager should have the following skills: Creative Problem Solving Skills, Communication Skills, Conflict Management Skills, Self-Awareness Skills and finally Negotiation Skills. As well as possessing the above skills, to be an effective manager he must also have certain key qualities. These key skills are Enthusiasm, Competence, Ability under pressure and Team-building skills.

Although the article focuses heavily on the skills and qualities of a manager, it also discusses how dealing with problems is a key component in effective management – suggesting that honest one-on-one talks with employees will dissolve tardiness and minor attitude problems. The key factors of effective management can also be shown by the classic Fayolian management cycle. This includes planning, organizing, directing and controlling as a cycle; it can be argued that a manager needs to be good with these in order to be effective.

It can also be argued that a key factor in a manger being effective is the role of management they are seen to have. Henry Mintzberg offers three types of roles that managers tend to have. The most effective is believed to be ‘interpersonal roles’ such as a figurehead, leader or liaison. Less effective than this is the ‘informational roles’ such as a monitor, disseminator or a spokesperson. The least effective is believed to be ‘decisional roles’ such as a resource allocator or negotiator. Our final source was an interview with a Bank IBO – head of Branch Operations.

He gave us an insight into what bank managers aim to achieve with a team and how they attempt to achieve their goals. He believes that there are three key factors which affect managerial performance are organisation, communication and direction. As well as these factors, he also felt that the managers’ personality is a big influence on how well a team operates. During the interview, he told us how the managers are taught to give clear direction to their team – using an anagram called SMART.