When businesses increase in size, whether by geographical expansion, diversification, or vertical integration, it is essential that they place a strong emphasis on coordination. When there’s no coordination, workflow and productivity suffer. To be able to pursue the company vision, management must coordinate if it wants to plan out and distribute the resulting work meaningfully. The management functions as defined above.

Tags: company vision coordination diversification geographical expansion productivity vertical integration vision management workflow
 

Is a manager an entrepreneur?

Many entrepreneurs are managers, but fewer managers are entrepreneurs. One reason for this is that managers as a rule have no tangible stake in their business. A manager does not even have to own shares of the business in question. Interestingly, we all know people who are thought of as a good entrepreneur but a bad manager, but we don’t hear as often of people who are considered a good manager but a bad entrepreneur.

    Universities produce many MBAs. How many of them become successful entrepreneurs? True, they’ve learned the basics: accounting, controlling, marketing, and management. Those basics are important for entrepreneurs, too, but entrepreneurs have to bring way more to the table. In many ways the lot of the entrepreneur parallels that of the “struggling artist”.

    Entrepreneurs must be creative and innovative, but they also have to be inspirational. As long as managers do not see themselves also as entrepreneurs they will not develop their full potential. Going a step further, the responsibility of the manager is to train their team members to become managers themselves. The best performing teams are those where people see themselves as entrepreneurs within the team, not just worker bees.

Step back, relax, and look at the situation. Can you find your solution?

    Although entrepreneurs and managers share many traits, they also have some notable differences. Entrepreneurs are known for taking risks and thinking primarily of the long term; managers are more detail-oriented and cautious, and they do care about the short term as well as the future. Entrepreneurs believe that failure in one venture is a learning experience that will give them more momentum next time; managers are much more fearful of failure and how it will affect their reputation.

    As the business world becomes more global (in part thanks to the Internet), the pressures and expectations on businesses grow. In this more competitive environment, businesses feel a need to make bolder, more long-ranging decisions. So, sometimes managers are forced to take the role of the entrepreneur.

What impact has modern society on entrepreneurship?

Can you define the entrepreneurial process?

What are the challenges an entrepreneur faces in your company; your line of business?

Do you see yourself as entrepreneur, manager or both?

    Viewing shareholder value as the business’s number one priority does little to encourage entrepreneurial spirit. Likewise, the many committees, boards, and regulations that come with them can squash entrepreneurship pretty easily. One of the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurship is the ability to make decisions quickly. Anything that hinders the ability to do that endangers the entrepreneurial spirit.

    Managers need to understand that adopting an entrepreneurial mindset alone isn’t what’s needed to make the business successful. What entrepreneurship can do is unlock the visionary ideas that can give the business a boost both short- and long-term. Don’t think of the entrepreneur as someone who creates chaos that managers need to fix. Think instead of that “chaos” as a vision—and use that vision to break out of the old ideas that keep the business from moving forward.

How long does it take to get a decision?

How many ideas get shut down?

Tags: accounting business business world challenges chaos committees company competitive environment controlling decisions delphi entrepreneur entrepreneurial entrepreneurial mindset entrepreneurial process entrepreneurial spirit environment businesses failure hallmarks learning experience line of business long ranging decisions main entrance management marketing mbas momentum oracle oracle of delphi priority process reputation shareholder value stake successful entrepreneurs team members term managers time managers universities visionary ideas worker bees
 

Let’s look at things from the point of view of an employee for a moment. (As a manager, this is directly relevant, since you’re an employee, too.) Think of the job interview. Traditionally, the employer asks questions and the prospective employee dutifully answers them. Even when they’re given the opportunity to ask their own questions, job-seekers seldom do. If you’re in this situation but you fail to ask questions, how can you really find out whether the company you may be working for is well-managed or chaotic? (The employer’s questions aren’t likely to give that information away.) Job seekers are trained and counseled to answer questions, but maybe it would be better if we encouraged them to ask questions and gave them some guidance on how to do it effectively. It might keep a lot of people from stepping into the “perfect job” that ultimately doesn’t turn out to be perfect at all!

Are the problems interesting or boring?

Who is in charge?

Are you managed by a woman or by a man?

Does it make a difference?

Should it?

    It is sad and shameful that in this day and age gender still plays a role in the business world. Words like “smart“, “creative“, “assertive“, and “talented” are neither female nor male. Yet it still happens too frequently that a woman reaches a certain rung on the management ladder but then goes no further. By keeping women from rising to their full potential, companies are eliminating half (perhaps more than half) of their talented managers suitable for the job.

Tags: assertive business world creative good management guidance job interview job seekers management ladder neither female nor male paul hawken point of view prospective employee smart talented talented managers
 

Ethics and leadership both seem to be abstract and ambiguous—so imagine what happens when we discuss ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is not about how to lead to reach specific goals, but what ethical affects leadership has. Ethics aren’t morals themselves but the meaning of moral ways and actions. Ethics don’t decide, nor do they take decisions away. They serve as a means of guidance—to find answers, make decisions, and know how to justify them.

    Leadership is about those who are in a position to make decisions; create opinions and attitudes. It is more then just managing. Because leaders have to lead by example, their words, actions, and values play a huge role in their success. Responsibility and credibility are two of the most important elements of leadership; each is deeply based on the interaction with others. Because every action, even the smallest, has an impact, ethics are always part of the decision-making process. Ethics are not a cookbook for great decisions. Leaders know that every decision has to be carried by responsibility and credibility. To be recognized as a leader requires exuding trust. Remember that for many the values and ethics of the leader have to match their own understanding of those.

    To understand the impact of ethics, it’s important to ask the right questions:

1. How do we implement corporate social responsibility?
2. How do we select and support employees while achieving the business goals?
3. What core competencies does a business need to stay successful? How do those bind the people?
4. What values do managers need to keep the worth, responsibility and future compatibility of the business?

    Today’s leaders have to understand what is needed tomorrow if they want to implement the necessary changes to keep the business running. Successful leaders are smart, responsible, and ethical. They’re expected to:

1. Take responsibility and delegate.
2. Continuously work on the vision and goals of the business and follow those.
3. Support shareholders, stakeholders, and suppliers to help them grow and stay within the vision and goals of the business.
4. Implement valuable, clear and responsible business solutions, either with or without the team.
5. Design smart teams with responsible team players.
6. Support employees to be themselves by bringing back the fun, and understanding diversity.
7. Change the rules (when necessary).

How much can a leader learn by looking at those who have chosen to be unethical?

    If you look only at the mistakes others made without trying to understand why they happened, you will learn almost nothing. It may be hard to believe, but often those who behave unethically think of themselves as perfectly ethical and responsible. It’s a matter of how they interpret values. They may be wrong, but remember that values do change over the years and sometimes people make errors of judgment out of ignorance rather than lack of conscience. It is a fine line to walk.

Tags: academic task achieving acting attitudes bind business goals business need business solutions business today compatibility conscience cookbook core competence corporate social responsibility credibility decision making process decisions diversity change elements ethic ethical leadership ethics followers guidance interaction interaction with others judgment leadership leadership ethics managers need match mistakes morals philosophy religion responsible business responsible team share holders shareholders smart smart teams speech action stake holders stakeholders suppliers support employees take into consideration todays leaders try to understand understanding ethics unethical
 

One of the best ways you can create a set of goals for your team is to remember to follow the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realistic, and Timely) principle. Once those goals are set—they have to be evaluated constantly and adjusted when needed.

✓ Are you in control of your own destiny?

✓ Is your boss?

✓ Are you making your own decisions?

✓ Are you allowed to plan?

✓ Can you change given plans?

✓ Does your word count?

✓ Is there too much stress and pressure?

✓ Are blame games part of the daily routine?

✓ Does money or the lack of it rule?

✓ Is there supervision only?

✓ Is the staff qualified?

✓ Are there teams?

✓ Do you feel managed?

✓ Does the team feel managed?

✓ Is the top manager representing or managing?

✓ Do managers in the organization follow their own words?

✓ Do managers meet with employees every few weeks?

✓ Do you like the overall feeling?

✓ Do you have fun?

✓ Are management and staff loyal? To each other and the company?

✓ Is everyone responsible towards customers?

✓ Are there entrepreneurs?

✓ Are there ethical standards?

✓ Are they followed and lived by?

Tags: blame games boss daily routine decisions money own destiny principle stress supervision