Managers need to lead

We will all have experienced good and bad leaders during our lives. Unfortunately having the title “Manager” does not make the leader, which is a shame as management roles involve leadership either directly through managing people, or indirectly by influencing the actions of others.

Hopefully you know at least one good leader:

• Someone people want to follow
  
• Someone who makes ideas real for people
  
• Someone who creates energy and drives people towards a common goal
  

So what is it about a good leader? Research has shown that effective leaders have these common traits:

• They think about the job at hand and the people
  
• They are able to achieve goals by enhancing productivity and job satisfaction
  
• They are proactive
  
• They start with the end result in mind
  
• They prioritise and put first things first
  
• They aim for a win-win situation
  
• They listen before they speak / act
  
• They make sure all things work well together
  
• They make sure the right tools / skills are in place
  

If you know a good leader, take the opportunity to learn from them. You will learn more about leadership from their mentorship then you will from a book. Now, not everyone can be a great leader but that should not stop them from being a good manager. . As a good manager it helps to know the various styles of leadership:

• Autocratic – do as I say
  
• Bureaucratic – we must follow the process
  
• Diplomatic – not lazy, just work challenged
  
• Participative – what do you think?
  
• Task-Oriented – we must finish this tonight
  
• People-Oriented – how are you today?
  

Most managers will have a “one style fits all approach”, but good managers know that they need to adapt their management style to the people they are managing. This is because they will be a diverse group and will differ in: gender, age, race, culture, religion, education, lifestyle, and sexual orientation. They will also know that different people react differently to each style because people are both rational and emotional in behaviour. A persons response is a consequence of rational (conscious) and emotional (unconscious) influences.