Having a winning management philosophy in business …

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Much can and has been said and written about management philosophies in business, some being better (more effective) than others.

For example, Stephen Stumph of New York University’s graduate School of management, has identified six major skills needed at the top once you get there. They are:

1. Having a vision. Executives must fashion a vision of what the company can be, champion that view and get employees behind it.

2. Managing rivalry. A CEO should not try to eliminate competition between subordinates and sub-units entirely, because it can be positive.

3. Thoroughly knowing the products, customers, and competition.

4. Maintaining a consistent strategy. The best managers stick with the strategy once it is set.

5. Identifying problems early.

6. Accommodating adversity. Senior executives must be able to get around roadblocks and bounce back from failure.

When you consider that people are the key components of what a manager “manages,” I’ve practiced a simple management philosophy in the different positions I’ve held. That philosophy is: I’ll do anything I humanly can to help a person I lead to succeed as long as they want to, and can.

First, it’s important I have an unrelenting commitment to the people I lead. When they succeed, the company succeeds; and when they fail, the company fails. I should maintain a wholehearted commitment to helping them be successful.

But, there are two stipulations I put on the employee. First, they have to want to succeed; if they have an attitude that they don’t care, then I don’t have a place for them in the organization. Second, they have to have a basic capacity to be able to succeed in their position; if they don’t, they’re not qualified to be in the job. For everyone who brings a positive attitude of wanting to succeed in their work, with the skills to get it done, then I will be their biggest advocate and help them in any way I can.

Imagine the result that level of commitment from a leader gets from those he or she leads!

What management philosophy do you practice with the people you lead?

Scotty