Good Managers and Great Leadership
How Running Effective Organizations Require Key Skills
May 6, 2009
Although they serve as the link between the management and the non-management staff, they are often squeezed into unenviable positions, making decisions which pleases neither the top nor the bottom.
However, in hierarchies, particularly non-profit organizations, such as libraries, management and leadership are not the same. While management plan budgets, organize the staff, solve problems, and provide stability, leadership requires establishing direction, motivating people, and producing change. Courage, decisiveness, flexibility, and time management all factor into leadership- and these are usually not taught in library management classes.
Here are some important factors to take for managers to become excellent leaders:
Humour
Laughter often brings out the best in us. I find that using humour – even if the punch line fails – generates morale and eases the burden of the workday. The best bosses I’ve had (as well as teachers) have been those who took the time during breaks to come out and crack a few jokes, talk about the missed penalty, or just how wonderful a weekend movie was.
Trust
Managers don’t always need to be judicial. Sometimes, discrete should be traded in for a good chat with employees. It fosters trust. Of course, confidential discussions will be always be at risk, but as the saying goes, with high risk comes high rewards.
The Human Touch
The best managers I have had are those who show their vulnerabilities. Cynicism, despondency, animosity are what makes us all common. I am often touched after personal chats with the supervisor, or when he or she spills a few personal anecdotes about the roadblocks that he or she faced along the way. With humility comes communication, and with that, a better, more motivated team.
Hardwork
Even if the manager is not working on a task, he must appear as if he is, just for the sake of the team. Motivation and example come from the top, and if the leader doesn’t show it, then the staff is doomed to follow. I once had difficulty cutting some tape for urgent delivery from a busy retail bookstore. The manager brusquely took it out of my hand, sheared it with her own teeth, then resumed whatever task she was doing. Job done, problem solved. The experience left an indelible impression in my mind; it helped me realize that managing isn’t just about conceptualizing and brooding in a spacious office.
Generosity
As the author Robert Kiyosaki has argued, if one wants to make money, one also has to give away money. And do it all without the expectation of any returns. Hence, the best managers are often those who are not shy to divulge "secrets of the trade" to others those who take on mentorship roles. In a profession which relies on information exchange and dissemination, what better way than to multiply your own information gathering talents?
These are but just five traits that managers, particularly middle-management non-profit managers, must take when they lead a team or staff of personnel. They can’t be taught, but they can be learned.
