A good manager is a leader, an influencer, most likely a person who knows how to handle people and their conflicts, and a good decision-maker. Although textbooks can identify these traits as those of a good manager, they differ considerably as to how a manager can attain them, and they vary as times change. A review of the literature provides some helpful insights on what it takes to be a good manager in todayÆs business environment.
One of the principal orientations a good manager must have is an ability to adapt his or her skills to the contextùthe environment and the challenges inherent in a company. In ôZeitgeist Leadership,ö the author explains that the manager must get in sync with the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times (Mayo & Nohria). He identifies three types of business executives, which he calls entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders, who all approach management in a different way (Mayo & Nohria). Entrepreneurs think outside the box to overcome challenges and launch something new; managers read ôthe context of their times. Through a deep understanding of the landscape in which they operate, they shape and grow businessesö (Mayo & Nohria). Leaders ôconfront changeö and can find the potential for success in even the most hopeless-looking business (Mayo & Nohria). Any of these three types could be a good manager, depending on the context in which he finds himself, and in fact, all three types are needed in any society: ôEntrepreneurs create new businesses, managers grow and optimize them, and leaders transform them at critical inflection pointsö (Mayo & Nohria).
Another concept establishing a new paradigm for good managers is the ôservant leaderö (Ramsey). The servant leader is the antithesis of the old-time concept of leader as authoritarian figure, making rules and bossing people around; the new manager gets the job done by ôcollaborating and orches
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