Top 10 Management Myths
 

No idea who wrote this (a mate sent it to me unattributed) but it's an interesting list...............

Top 10 Management Myths

1. Bad managers are a bad thing. It’s ironic that society is okay with bad spouses, bad marriages, bad workers, bad professionals - hell, bad people - but not bad bosses. Listen carefully: there’s a bell curve for all things involving people. It’s reality; it can never and will never change. Deal with it.
2. It’s not what you know but who you know. Ah, the mantra of the perpetual underachiever, the assumption being that because he can’t get a promotion it means the guy who did must know somebody. The truth is that overachievers work harder and yes, they schmooze harder too. That’s why they know more successful people and are therefore exposed to more opportunities.
3. It’s the path to big bucks. For the vast majority, that’s simply not the case. There’s at least as good a chance that you’ll hit the jackpot as a professional, individual contributor, or entrepreneur. That’s because the big bucks are in a thin sliver of executive management and few managers ever get there.
4. You should be prepared for the job. Sure, young managers should get some basic training, but anyone who says he was adequately prepared for his first management role is BSing. A great deal of management skill simply can’t be taught; it’s best learned on the job, under fire, in the real world.
5. Abusive, confrontational, or dysfunctional managers are bad managers. Some of the most successful managers of our time fit that description: Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs, to name a few famous ones. Sure, there are plenty of best-selling books that promote the myth, but like it or not, I’ve never observed a correlation.
6. It’s all about managing people. This is probably the notion I most strongly want to dispel. Sure, managing people is a big component, especially for line managers. And employees certainly want to believe they’re first and foremost in the hearts and minds of their bosses. But if you look at the specific goals - how success is defined for most managers - they’re typically more about managing a function or a business than about managing people.
7. Leadership and management are unrelated. I hear this all the time and it’s a huge misconception. While it is true that there are different skill-sets, they’re still intimately related. The truth is that good management skills make better leaders and the converse is also true. I would argue that great management requires excellent leadership skills.
8. MBAs make better managers. Yes, you learn a lot getting an MBA. Yes, it’s a good piece of paper to have - especially from a top notch school - if you aspire to senior management. But no, there is no credible evidence that it will make you or anyone else a better manager. That’s largely because management is more art than science.
9. It’s tougher to get in than it is to do. The truth is just the opposite. If you’re capable, you’ll become a manager. But it takes a helluva lot more than that to become a successful manager.
10. You should be able to do the jobs of those you manage. I can’t even honor this myth with a logical argument; it’s so ridiculous. For some people in some jobs - primarily line managers - it can help. In the vast majority of cases, however, there’s little correlation and it decreases further the higher you go up the management chain.

Bottom line. Perhaps the supreme, overriding uber-myth here is that there’s a formula for management success. As long as people are unique individuals and organizations are unique entities - and they surely are - there can be no formula for successful management.

Sure, certain qualities and processes work better for certain people in certain organizations and industries, but that’s a far cry from a general blueprint for management success. It simply doesn’t exist. So if you stop looking for formulas, you’ll go a long way to becoming a more successful manager.

Re: Top 10 Management Myths
 

Come on Dean you are better than this ;)

Sounds like the opening chapter of a self help management book.

Women have diet and how to find happiness books, men have how to be better golfers and better managers books.
It is just another insecurity market.

By the way I have just released my new book,

7 easy steps to a successful career, better golf and meeting women. including a section on toning your abs

Re: Top 10 Management Myths
 

I have my own rules for management, although I see what you mean about the thing I posted.

One of my beliefs - not myths - is that the most important people in your firm are the most 'junior'. Happy to discuss.

Re: Top 10 Management Myths
 

Well to me management is primarily about getting results, the style of management or how you go about it is incidental (in the short term) to the outcome.

There are only two styles; conflict or consensus, and long term consensus is the only real winner. But if you can't be personable, and are relatively thick skinned, plus can deal with high staff turnover then conflict is the alternative. I see this a lot in companies that bring in short term guys to shake up the business for a year or two then leave to do the same the next company.

One item never usually mentioned is managing the people above you, not just below you. If you can't do this then everyone below you suffers.

I disagree with the idea that you should not be able to do the job of your juniors, I don't think you should be able to do the job but you need to understand it and the implications of the decisions you make. Management isnt a profession that transfers from industry to industry, its sector specific in my opinion.

Re: Top 10 Management Myths
 

- Don't shag the regular staff.
- If not the above ask yourself what ISO 9000 series (or similar) would do in this situation.

Close? ;)
Haynes manuals must have changed a bit since I last looked :confused:.

Re: Top 10 Management Myths
 

A company's like a three-legged stool, the legs being:

Customer Satisfaction
Employee Satisfaction
Profit

If any leg falls short, the stool falls over.

Simple.

Re: Top 10 Management Myths
 

My rules in the workplace:

- treat the women like princesses and, if applicable, flirt with them
- treat the men like shit and, where possible, shit on them
- know what is going on with every project in the office - work on every project that is there and never say you are too busy
- always be the first in the office

exceptions:
- support staff - these are always to be treated with the highest possible amount of respect. They make your life very difficult if you don't.

Re: Top 10 Management Myths
 

There may be no formula but there are truisms and hard and fast rules like being honest, leading by example when possible, listening to those under you (even if you don't or cannot act on their suggestions...simply listening to people can produce wonderful results) and refraining from screaming and yelling at people unless you are in the military or something criminal and/or totally catastrophic has occurred...and even then screaming just shows a lack of self-control and professionalism.

N.