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by Glenn Llopis

Management is about execution, coordination and implementation of results.  Effective managers earn trust quickly, are strong team players and prepare employees for success.  Management requires one to continuously be mindful of the details and attentive to follow-up. Management requires the constant due diligence that is embedded within each task at hand and delivering the tools and resources required to help advance people, projects and goals.

Great management can only be attained by those who are able to manage themselves before managing others.  The great manager knows how to manage him or herself while getting the most optimal results from the people, resources and other support at their disposal.

Great managers require minimal supervision. They are masterful at multi-tasking, and are incredibly self-disciplined and inspired to exceed performance expectations.  They know how to create the management systems and infrastructure around them to “connect the dots quickly” based on what is required to achieve desired results and to continually keep their teams motivated to win.

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If you believe you are a great manager, then ask yourself these critical questions:

1.      When did your performance expectations not match the results?

2.      What could you have you done differently to attain your expectations? 

3.      Do you continue to enforce  the missing element(s) in your work?

If the answer to question three is “no,” then you should reevaluate your management role and make a real commitment to manage yourself (and/or learn how to). Because when you manage others, they (in most cases) are relying upon you to help them be successful and reach new levels of significance in their work.

Before I reveal the one most important thing that defines great management, let’s review how Wikipedia.com and Dictionary.com define management:

  • As defined on Wikipedia.com, “Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.”
  • As defined in dictionary.com, “Management is the person or persons controlling and directing the affairs of a business, institution, etc.”

What these definitions fail to mention and what I have learned to be the most important ingredient to great management is this: accountability.

Without accountability, the ability to manage doesn’t exist.  Great management is holding yourself and those around you accountable to deliver results. Period. You can define this any way that you want; but in the end, managers are accountable to be accountable.

Beyond a manager being accountable to manage their own goals, desires, and aspirations, they must know how to enforce performance accountability in others. That means a great manager knows how to instill the responsibility of being accountable and convey the ultimate rewards and lessons-learned that are associated with its outcomes. The reason most people don’t succeed in work or in life is that they are not accountable enough to themselves or to those whom they serve.

As you reflect upon this blog, think about your organization and those who are prominently featured on the org chart.  Are they being accountable enough to the organization and the team(s) they are responsible for?  Can they do a better job of enforcing accountability to generate the results and growth the organization requires?  Are their direct reports maturing and preparing themselves for the next opportunity for advancement? 

Our recent recessionary times are a by-product of the lack of accountability that existed across financial markets, banks and other institutions.  Accountability simply wasn’t enforced because of poor management.

Leaders can cast a great vision, but without great management there is no foundation for opportunity, prosperity and shared responsibility for advancement for the betterment of a healthier whole.

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