What’s Your 1 Management Word?
August 3, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I manage, and what would need to be done if I were to train someone to do what I do on a daily basis. There are LOTS of daily tasks that make up my job, and those can all be taught with time and patience and practice.
But then I got to thinking…if I could distill down to 1 word what management is all about, what would that 1 word be?
Clarity
Clarity is the one word, the key to management. Clarity is the key because you need clarity in your communication with the people you lead, and the people you serve. You need clarity of mission, purpose and passion so people want to follow you. You need clarity of purpose to wade through all the information that will come your way to find the truth, and to filter out all but the most relevant information.
Questions for you:
- Can you distill management down to 1 word?
- If so, what’s your 1 word about management?
- How do you teach clarity?
Photo credit: Self Portrait (Magnify) by Kapungo
I have to agree that your choice of “clarity” is a good. I have to agree because communication is such a hard yet so important skill. I learned in Graduate class that it takes 7 different ways to communicate a single message to that it is fully understood.
Hi Phil:
As usual a very insightful piece…Clarity is mission critical as it leads to purpose and execution (see http://www.n2growth.com/blog/clarity-matters). However my choice for a single word would be “character” as all the clarity in the world won’t provide sustainable value coming from a person who lacks character.
“Coach” would be my one word. If we have people in jobs that leverage their strengths, then our job as managers is to help them reach their fullest potential. Management is many things, but coaching is a big part of it.
“Empathy” would be my word: Understand everyone: your team, management, customers at both the professional and personal levels and digest as much of this as possible and build products and solutions that satisfy those needs.
Great exercise to think about Phil.
I like “clarity” as well.
My word would be “values” or if I could cheat a bit with a hyphenated one, “value-alignment.” I have adopted values-based management as my approach because I find that it DELIVERS that better clarity.
clarity, character, values, coach — all good words.
My pick is leadership.
Chris
Excellent additions everyone. I like them all…a lot.
Though I’m curious what others think about Chris’ entry: do managers need leadership to be effective or is managership enough?
I, too, would have to say that my “1 word” would be leadership. For me, leadership encompasses managing, directing, coaching, and inspiring my staff. If I lead the way by personally reaching for the next level and helping those around me to succeed as well, I grow, my team grows and our company grows. We are, together, greater than the sum of our parts.
My thoughts are similar to what Sharon has said Phil: I think of ‘managers’ as people who both manage and lead: Same person, two verbs and activities done in different proportions as may be needed. One way I like to distinguish those two verbs is in terms of energy as a workplace resource: When we lead we create energy, and when we manage we channel that energy to its optimal potential.
Good discussion you have going here!
Inspiration. If you are unable to inspire others to action you can manage all you want but you will never truly move your group foward.