Part 2 – Manager! -You got to be good, otherwise, just go home!

At part 1 of this article, we talked about the 3 qualifications as follows:

• Excellent communication.
• Systematic-organized-detailed orientation
• and problem solving skills.

In this 2^nd.part of the article, I will address the remaining 4 qualifications and skills that I personally believe are the important aspects for an effective good manager based on my experiences.

Good Manner -All managers must realize that no matter how good he or she is, the manager will not use his knowledge,  technical skill or even his/her expertise every single day.  What the managers will use every day is “mannerism”, and we use it every minute when interacting with people especially with subordinates.  I have seen many managers who failed in this due to their unacceptable harsh manners towards staff and others.  Most subordinates view the manager from personality and manner first because they have to deal with those aspects most of the time, the next is the knowledge and skill. Knowledge and skill come out from the way people present themselves, through the way they talk and interact with people.  Knowledge and skill cannot be distributed through only writing or formal official speech session.  A manager must realize that being a role model is achieved by a good interaction with their staff through good manners.

The following are examples of undesirable manners that managers must avoid:

• Throw things.
• Use loud voice when upset.
• Bang the table or other things.
• Use certain words and sentences that offend the staff decision or action.  (Example: if staff made the wrong decision, a manager should not say “how dare you made such a decision”, “who is the boss here?” or “why you do such things without telling me”, “is that all you can do?” etc.

Respect -The word “respect” is kind of hard to judge.  But most employees are very clear, which managers respect them and which does not!

A very simple example from my own observation is the way many of my superiors write emails to his or her bosses.  Mostly, he or she will write a very nice appropriate email with a proper salutation such as  “Dear Mr. xx.” and a nice ending with  “Thank you very much and personal regards (Even though there is nothing to thank the superior about).

In contrary, most of my previous superiors would write to his/her subordinates without any kind of salutation and many times without even a simple ending such as “regards”.

I am not sure, maybe my English is just not good enough or I am expecting too much.  I surly don’t want my own boss to be rude to his superior, but I do expect my boss to treat (write) his subordinates the way he treats (writes) to his boss! May be a little less text or a different format if he or she feels uncomfortable, but I do strongly believe that this is the “art” of being a respected manager, and “art” of showing respect to other ranks.  Although it is acceptable that there must be some difference because of structure, but the feeling respect must be there at all time.

If the manager has too much different “treatment styles” between employees and superiors, the staff would simply view that their manager don’t respect the employees and loves to lick the shoes of his own boss.  The secret code for the gain “respect” is simply that you should treat your staff similar like the way you treat your boss.   Think about the word “human being”, and then the manager will have answer of how to treat the staff similar to his own boss.

Ethical personality – to me is for both personal and professional aspects.  Sample: The managers never or seldom do what they preach!  I have seen a manager issue a policy that no one can consume food in the office, tut then, the same day, the manager himself do it without any guilt. It is a very popular topic with employees that managers don’t do what they ask others to do.  Is this also something where the boss loses the respect of staff? – Think!

Another classic example is that many managers really beat staff for better profits, but the manager themselves give away so many free things and heavy discounts (sometimes even to their private friends) hoping that they can benefit among their network due to the favor giving back and forth to each other.  Can staff cheat the manager because the managers choose not to be ethical?– Think!

And, … some managers use company resources for their own personal benefits such as the useof the company car and driver to drive them and their family members to the market for fun, or use the company driver to pick up their daughter and son from the school, or use the company driver to clean their own personal vehicles, or use the secretary to go pick the photos of his daughter’s birthday party from the photo shop during the working hours. Some managers use company’s equipment to arrange parties for their own personal guests at their own home etc.

There are so many books about leadership in the market which are “best-sellers”.  Since these books sell so well, I simply don’t know why I have to listen to so many negative “repetitive” comments from staff about the managers in every organization for over 15 years! Do the managers use this leadership books or just to decorate their office for photo taking? When leaders are unethical, what left for the society and a country to be truly developed?

Excellent common sense–is what many managers lack ofas they are too much in the book, in the rule, in the regulation, in the policy and sometimes in their own world!

Common sense can solve many problems in the modern world, and managers who have a common sense are mostly viewed as reasonable, flexible and smart person because there is not always ONE answer or ONE way to achieve things.  Managers who work without common sense mostly are viewed as a-not-so-smart manager because they are either fixed with what they do every single day or as a dull and dumb who cannot be flexible.

Those managers are usually slow in making decisions; they lack of understanding and are usually inexperienced.  In today’s business world, to obtain excellent common sense, people must have various rounded experiences, have been a good hands-on type of person as well, and must be open minded.  Managers who grow into their position without strong foundation of solid experience in his field mostly lack of any business common sense simply because they are inexperienced and do not have any idea of how the work should be done flexibly and efficiently.  Therefore, in summary, to have excellent common sense, one must have a greater extent of work and life experiences.  With this, person becomes a modern leader in a rapid growing organization – particularly in service industry – that need to satisfy guest with many details, yet, has to remain a very high standard.

© Nate-tra Dhevabanchachai, General Manager, Salaya Pavilion Hotel and Training Center, Mahidol University International College (www.salayapavilion) and Honorary Director of Mai-BS (Thailand) Company Limited, a hotel and resort consulting and training company (http://mai-bs.com)