Born to Be Leaders free essay sample

Managers are assumed to have leadership skills and works with employees who require them for vital support and assistance in their jobs. Managers are also responsible for improving and sustaining the performance and work efforts of others. The process of management, which includes – planning, organizing, leading and controlling, is the process that is used by all managers to recognize performance problems, opportunities, which allows them to make good judgment and achieve performance goals. In order to effectively follow the process of management, managers are required to have a set of skills. Essential managerial skills include the following – technical skill, human skill and conceptual skill. Technical skills are acquired through formal education and job experience. Tasks such as accounting or engineering are examples that requires technical skills hence highlights why training is important. The idea of human skill is the ability to work effectively with other people which accentuate the importance of communication skills of a manger. Lastly, conceptual skill is the ability to critically and analytically view situations and solve problems with a solution that is of the highest benefit for all parties. From the above, it is evident that a manager requires quite an amount of skills and as (Ryan, 2010) states, a manager is one that â€Å"must be a jack-of-all trades, but also a master of many†. The quality of being considerate through communication will now be examined to reveal if it is a skill that a manager is born with, or can it be achieved through training. Many believe that effective communication skills are something that can only be born within a person, which is only part true. It is indeed true that one can be born with exceptional communication skills, but effective communication skills is something that is earned and mastered over time. It is the experience of a manager that allows for effective communication which then leads to a considerate manager. This idea is supported by (Aimee, 2003) who believes that in areas such as business operations and project management, there is a necessity for technical communication to have more preparation and training. This emphasizes the fact that communication skills requires the proper training and is not a skill that one can be born with. Being knowledgeable and aware in decision making is a conceptual skill that is required of a good manager hence will be studied to expose if it is a skill that a manager is born with, or can it be attained through training. Firstly, it is known that with experience, one can improve and better adapt to sudden situations during the process of decision making. To avoid being clueless and become aware instead, â€Å"it requires the use of social skills to create effective working relationships throughout the company, networking skills to reach all areas of the organization, and technical knowledge to provide leadership when required (Cervone, 2008). This highlights that in order to acquire conceptual skills, the human skill of communication along with technical skills is also required and as seen in the above argument, it is evident that human skills require training and experience and once again highlight that managerial skills are something that needs to be trained, and not simply a s kill that one is born with. A manager requires technical skills such as accounting skills to keep track of possible project funds etc. Even though a manager has the ability to delegate tasks hence might not come in contact with much accounting processes, a manager still needs to be prepared to be approached with problems and also needs to verify there is nothing wrong with the project’s budget. Supported by (Ryan, 2010) in terms of library management, that â€Å"specialized training that was recognized as valuable by prospective employers† was used to better educate and equip managers with skills that they need. Also, â€Å"librarians experience a ready-made training plan for roles in library management and administration† (Ryan, 2010) to equip them with skills and knowledge that is needed. Aside from the three essential managerial skills, the most important feature of a manager in anyone’s mind would be leadership. The idea of leadership is, to lead a group of people or organization, or being in the position of a leader, to guide and enhance the performance of the group. By being a good leader, it will then put you into the position of a good manager. People have a common believe that a good manager must have good leadership skills and that if a manager is leading well, the manager is doing well, but people often ignore those who follow the leader, hence the idea of followership. Followership is basically a group of followers; to support the success of a leader or team. By stating to not forget about those who follow, it is suggesting that a manager who has superior leadership skills did not achieve this on his own, but credit should also go to the one who followed (Hollander, 1992). This highlights the idea that leadership does not exist without followership. Emphasizing that even if one is born with superior leadership skills, it does not matter because it’ll be useless without your followers, let alone the fact that no one can be born with leadership skills. Leadership cannot be born within a person; it is a trait that is developed over time, through experiences and training which then leads to a leader. It is notable that there are those who are not suitable to be leaders, but no one can be born as a leader, or manager, without the right training and experiences. The next topic that will be discussed will be the stereotype of â€Å"Men are born to be leaders/managers†. This idea was what many believed not so many years ago but is now being proven wrong as we see a rise in the number of women earning a higher management position all around the world (Kusterer, 2008). This just accentuates the idea that no one is born to be a manager, but rather, anyone can become a manager with the correct training. This table highlights the areas in which female managers excel over male in and emphasize the fact that female managers have their strong points as well; again emphasizing the idea that anyone can become a good manager despite gender differences with the correct training and education. Above are the arguments that have been presented with this essay. With the definitions of what a good manager is and what they do, to why managerial skills needs to be trained and not simply just a gift. Also, the idea that leadership is nothing without followership, to the overthrow of the old stereotype of â€Å"Men are born to be leaders†. All of the above arguments highlight how no manager can just be born with its abilities, and that all comes from training and experiences that will allow them to have the skills of a good manager. Bibliography Aimee, L 2003, the skills that technical communicators need: an investigation of technical communication graduates, managers, and curricula, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 33, 4, pp. 303-318, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 September 2012. Hollander, EP 1992, The Essential Interdependence of Leadership and Followership, Current Directions In Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell), 1, 2, pp. 71-75, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 September 2012. KUSTERER, H 2008, Exploring the gender typing of management characteristics in an egalitarian context, Scandinavian Journal Of Psychology, 49, 6, pp. 549-557, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 September 2012. Cervone, H 2008, Good project managers are cluefull rather than clueless, OCLC Systems amp; Services, 24, 4, pp. 199-203, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 September 2012. Ryan, M 2010, Catching On: Management Training in Depository Libraries, Reference amp; User Services Quarterly, 50, 2, pp. 119-121, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 September 2012.