Management Philosophies

REFLECTIVE QUOTES ON MANAGEMENT/LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHIES

I say “hi” to all who are either holding senior positions or now aspiring to be one soon.

It has been quite a while since I last shared views relating to management philosophies.  I hope my sharing this time may render valid points for you to reflect and relate to your own work situation.

Here goes………..

Quote:

DELEGATION without DISCRETION is in fact RELEGATION. Relegation without DISCERNMENT leads to ABDICATION, which is ultimately caused by mass INSUBORDINATION, because of MIS-COORDINATION and MIS-DIRECTION.

Elaboration:

Delegation in management is necessary – in fact inevitable, for no manager can practically manage all functions under his jurisdiction, regardless of the span of control. However, beware! Do not delegate away your responsibility and accountability. Empowering subordinates does not mean delegating your entire authority to them. Indiscriminate delegation can erode the usefulness of your role. Make sure you delegate the right responsibilities to the right people, and in the right way, otherwise the end result may likely turn out catastrophic to you and your jurisdictional territory.

“Armchair critic” managers – those who prefer to give comments and directives as expression of authority without any hands-on involvement in handling issues – do not deploy discretion when they delegate implementation of tasks. Bureaucrats are in this group. They frequently call for meetings, give some general instructions, and then totally leave to others to implement. I knew managers who were never keen to pick up any technical aspects of functional scopes under their jurisdiction, so they had to totally rely on second liners for decision making and implementation. Even when they gave advice superficially, they would be shooting blanks. They were unable to assess how efficacious their second liners performed on their behalf. Predictably, the overall performance of their jurisdictional territory turned out pathetic.

Whole scale delegation equates to handing over the entire authority on a function to a delegate. This can be disastrous. A manager who relegates (gives away) his role to other personnel will become redundant. He will not be able to command respect from subordinates. Once he loses control over his subordinates – which is like them revolting against him – he will ultimately be replaced by someone else.

Quote:

An effective leader is one who knows to delegate appropriately to his second liners but at the same time finds ways to assess the true feelings of the grassroots from time to time.

Elaboration:

Again, I say delegation is necessary. To delegate or not to delegate – that is not the question. What to delegate, when to delegate, whom to delegate to – these are the right questions. In short prudence in delegating is the master key. 

Prudent "bosses" do not presume it is forever blue skies although he feels he has delegated the right responsibilities to the right people at the right situations. While placing trust on his delegates, he will still monitor the impact levels on his entire team by securing feedback from the grassroots. When necessary, he will intercede to issue new directives to his delegates. He wants to ensure the performance of each delegate meets his expectations. He still expresses control over his jurisdiction. He has never relegated his authority or role to someone else.

A profound manager knows that a wholesome picture of his realm can only materialise if team members at large, regardless of position or rank, are treading towards the same destination selected by him but delegated to his second liners for implementation. He knows he must periodically get a correct feel of how well his overall team progresses in the simultaneous move to the destination at each periodic checkpoint whilst being led by his delegates. He also wants to ensure various segments of his overall team reach the destination at the designated timeline. To gauge the progress at each checkpoint, he needs inputs from the grassroots. He needs to recognise the ad hoc hurdles that have cropped up halfway so that appropriate mitigating measures can be taken promptly.

A profound manager effectively delegates to second liners who are capable of implementing his directions on his behalf, yet he demonstrates by actions that he is still in firm command continually by keeping tabs now and then.

Quote: 

To grasp what your team really thinks about your management style, you must have techniques to elicit what’s real but unsaid, plus what’s said behind you, and not just what’s said upfront to you. First thing first, you must be open-minded enough to accept candid comments, and you must be open-minded enough to amend your personal style where necessary.

Elaboration:

Getting feedback from subordinates is easy. Getting frank and true feedback is a challenge. Your subordinates will not readily tell unfavourable facts about you for fear of reprisal.

The ability to extricate real inputs about your leadership requires strong “people knowledge” and  “people communication” experience, i.e. interpersonal interaction flair. A vital ingredient is sincerity. Unless your team members sense your genuine sincerity in appreciating candid feedback, you will never be able to receive the true picture what they perceive of you. Approachability and humility are two other characteristics which enable you to effectively touch base with your subordinates.

Effective communication skills play an important part in paving for responsive interpersonal interactions. Effective communication is not merely measured by your aesthetic eloquence or oratorical capability, but more so how well you can relate and connect with your people. It necessitates you to extend your reach-out to them, including the grassroots. Key words: Relate; Connect.

The End…….

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHAT’S FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT…………..IN JOVIAL VEIN

Sometime ago, I picked up a short passage from a source (unable to remember the origin) about Financial Management. Although it was presented in a humorous manner, yet I felt the elaboration used by the source was an impressive approach for conveying the definition. Here it is below.

Quote:

Financial Management is the science of leveraging on the money you have to get much more benefits than what you can normally buy.

Elaboration (with humour):

In a corrupt-prone country, a penniless jobless man who was asking for alms got a $100 note from a tourist. Immediately he went to the exclusive penthouse restaurant in the country’s tallest tower, ordered exquisite dinner with wine worth $1,000. After asking for the bill, he told the restaurant manager he had no money. The restaurant handed him to a policeman. He gave the $100 note to the policeman who then let him go scot-free. Well, that’s leveraging on money! That’s innovative financial management!

Cheers!