`The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact' by Henry Mintzberg
The above article written by Henry Mintzberg in 1975 provides a thoughtful analysis of what managers do as part of their daily routine and exposes the pretensions on myths about managers and how they work. The author also gives us an insight on what roles managers play and what skills are required to be a successful manager.
The main idea behind this article is to provide a clear insight into managerial roles and responsibilities and how they correlate to the challenges and opportunities that manifest in front of a manager. In order to successfully execute the his/her roles and responsibilities a manager is required to acquire skills to foster interpersonal relationships, ability to negotiate, motivate their staff, resolve conflicts, acquire and share information, make decisions.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
`What Leaders Really Do' by John P. Kotter
The above article written by John P. Kotter in 1990, proposes that management and leadership are different yet complementary and in a constantly changing organizational climate managers and leaders cannot function one without the other.
The main idea behind this article can be summarized as follows: "While managers focus on efficiency and tactics, leaders focus on effectiveness and strategy. A successful organization is one that emerges as a winner during uncertain times and strives to attain a perfect balance by combining the strengths of its managers and leaders". The following is a brief contract between the roles of a managers and leaders
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"The Discipline of Building Character", by Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.
The above article written by Joseph Badaracco, Jr. draws a contrast between ethical decisions and defining moments faced by individuals, managers and executives. According to the author an ethical decision clearly has two options, right v/s wrong, whereas a defining moment forces one to choose between two ideals, right and - right. While ethical decisions are easy to make, a defining moment challenge us to choose between two or more ideals.
The main idea behind this article can be summarized as follows, "Professional responsibilities conflict with our values and during these defining moments one must choose between right and right." The article explains three types of defining moments, "Who am I?", "Who are we?" and "Who is the company?" and educates readers by helping them learn skills to identify these three types so that they will be able to effectively navigate the right v/s right decisions they face throughout their career. Such skills, although not part of a manager's job description enable them to build an identity in the organization based on their own understand of what is right. Various sections of the author's article, written in 1998, encourage readers to take a step back and evaluate this conflict not as a dilemma but as an expected tension between two or more valid perspectives.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
`Managers and Leaders: Are They Different' by Abraham Zaleznik
The above article written by Abraham Zaleznik in 1977 makes a case against modern management by enumerating the similarities and differences between managers and leaders. The author argues that managers and leaders differ in their personalities and viewpoints on how they manage order and chaos within an organization. The article discusses how traditional organizational structures and processes have influenced managers to focus exclusively on traits like control, power and competence in order to be successful. This management school of thought discouraged managers to be creative, develop inter-personal traits and build relationships with their team.
The main idea behind this article can be summarized as follows, "Managers are born out of an organization structure and operate on a pre-defined set of processes and control mechanisms, and therefore they have a very good understanding of the business and their job at hand. Managers play an important role in any organization and always solve problems by giving orders and seek stability by controlling and persuading their subordinates to align with organizational goals, processes and procedures. In contrast, Leaders always relate themselves to people and are often idea centric and sometimes deviate from traditional approaches towards solving organizational problems."
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
$12.12
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 21
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2011
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2011
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2011
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2013
Top reviews from other countries
Mahmoud Hassan Elshafie
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2014