"A poet but didn't know it"

The following is my intent to define management,

it’s time well spent because it’s a good learning supplement.

Hmm…how to start, what to list, where to depart, which way,

so many things in midst of the art of managing…it’s hard to say.

The first thing to exist must be the ability to make a decision,

sometimes it must be made quick without sacrificing too much precision,

it can be an elaborate process to make a good decision,

it may require a manager to have a strong, preexisting vision.

But what good is vision without the support of every division,

especially in a company with decentralized supervision,

management’s vision must be popular and supported, or it will be faced with certain revision.

Good management is awareness to a large extent,

of the state of affairs in the world, and of the environment,

awareness of circumstances economic, cultural, and political,

to overlook any one of these could be a mistake most critical.

Each one of these factors has the great power to influence,

verify this in professor Kurpis’s slides on the model of congruence.

What makes a manager great is not found in a pill,

it’s a combination of human, technical, and conceptual skill, sometimes

it’s about the examples that are set and the values they seek to instill, sometimes

it’s about emotional intelligence and the promotion of goodwill.

Management is also about ensuring good work quality,

about not spending too much time on matters of frivolity.

Management involves ethics, of course about ethics there is much we could say,

let’s contemplate what’s considered the right and the wrong way,

let’s not ignore the disturbing trend found in business, especially today.

All too often it’s about “terminal value”, disregarding the means and only concerned with the ends,

a once great economy will fail you, if we only focus on receiving short term dividends.

Just because your superiors will support you, for doing favors for their friends,

doesn’t mean bad decisions won’t catch up with you in the end,

a good manager’s conscience rightly contends, that a questionable action should not be taken,

unless he/she wouldn’t mind if the public found out, including family and friends.

Over to the cousin of ethics, I now digress,

without a sense of social responsibility society will become a great mess.

A possible benchmark to measure a manager’s capability,

Is his/her regard for corporate responsibility, that is,

If they’ve achieved economic profitability and basic legal responsibility,

they’re in the “zone of compliance”,

if they’ve given back to the community and consistently display civility,

this may give a manager the ability to form a strategic alliance.

Research suggests this to be more a fact than fiction,

when this is the way managers act, they’re in the “zone of conviction”.

A trend in management today which gives me a particularly positive feeling,

one which any manager should embrace, it’s the shattering of the glass ceiling,

the status quo of years past, society has not yet finished repealing,

there is still more room for reform in the work place, this, research is still revealing.

But good managers will show an appreciation for diversity,

such a work force is especially valuable, especially when faced with innovative adversity.

Managing workforce diversity can at times be very hard,

but such a workforce helps a company achieve their balanced score card.

Perhaps most important to consider is the ability to be a leader,

without this , the stability of an entire nation may teeter,

there are many styles of leadership, from autocratic to democratic,

leaders have to be able to make “nonprogrammed” decisions, these are never automatic,

to lead and sometimes go against the grain, can be a difficult dance while maintaining propriety,

to lead our nation out of its current circumstance, will require leadership--of a spectacular variety.

To adequately define management could easily take half a day,

for the sake of brevity I’ve only these last things to say:

Management is many things, it is custom tailored to each condition,

Management requires many things, from strong cognition to ambition,

Management precludes many things, from wrongful omission to violation of volition (“V”).

Management offers many things, it’s a never ending expedition.

Management blog feedback

In terms of learning about others, the first assignment for this blog was like a balance sheet for everyone. In other words, it provided readers a “snapshot” view of each of us. (Forgive the accounting analogy I can’t help myself sometimes). If we weren’t under time constraints, then I think that people would share more thoughts and ideas than what is required by our assigned postings. (The motive for posting is “extrinsic” most of the time).

The blog portion of the course defiantly forces the student to think about the class activities that took place. This reflection further reinforces the concepts pertaining to the activities. It’s a great alternative method for studying. By the way, I will never forget to bring steel wool & Crisco when I go camping.

The professor’s blog postings were all very interesting and felt kind of recreational because they were not extensions of the textbook or power point slide. They allowed us to wonder into topics that you could actually make small talk about (like if you were sitting next to someone on a plane or talking to a relative that you haven’t seen in a long time and they ask you how school is going etc..).

The blog does give the student (well at least one student) a stronger sense of control over their grade which is a relief from trying to figure out how our knowledge will be tested on exams. However, I wouldn’t say it is an EASY 20% as it does require us to stay alert and be responsive in a timely manner (while managing other courses/work etc..) and to put some real thought and effort into our posts.

I may utilize this blog after the course. I imagine that I could use it to get answers to problems at work. Perhaps I will turn it into the “answer center”.

I think the blog SHOULD remain a component of the course. The requirements are not too taxing, but, do require consistent, active participation. The requirements offer a variety of topics and the grading percentage allocation is well balanced. Don’t change anything.

Time to interpret

Results from the leadership/management diagnostic indicate that my primary profile is type S. My secondary type is an even draw between types D & C; however, because the position of the #6 under the D column (which is like a micrometer higher than the # -2 position under the C column) my secondary management type is technically D.

Because tendencies of the “S-type” person include: demonstrating patience, desiring to help others, being a good listener, calming excited people, and creating a stable, harmonious work environment, I feel that the DISC profile system has accurately gauged my management orientation. Nevertheless, I am in disagreement with my secondary (or “minor”) profile type—D. Most of the tendencies, desired environmental conditions, and other characteristics of the D profile run contradictory to those found in the S profile system. Because my tendencies also include: attention to key directives and standards, concentrating on key details, being diplomatic with people, and checking for accuracy, I feel that my secondary profile type should be far greater on the C scale than the results have indicated.

The S-way of management suits me well because it is quite telling of how I would approach a management position; managing in an S-type fashion would allow me to perform my job comfortably because the characteristics of the S-type are quite telling of who I really am. Though I am content to manage with an emphasis on cooperating with others, it is quite possible that I could transform my approach towards the C-type. That is, with an emphasis on working conscientiously within existing circumstances to ensure quality & accuracy. This would take some conditioning. I could not, however, manage by taking the D-type approach as I would grow weary of trying to maintain an air of power and authority…and I couldn’t see myself being so concerned with immediate results.

Certainly the DISC profile test provides a glimpse into how a person approaches life and, thus, how they would manage or lead. This can be a valuable tool for understanding your manager’s (or your own) perspective which can help to create a more harmonious work relationship. Of course, as with any profiling system, the information gathered from DISC should be taken with a “grain of salt”. After all, HOW a person is questioned may actually influence their answers and we all know how influential the “framing effects” of a question can be (see professor’s blog, Nov 5^th entry).

In my opinion, a test like this may or may not be helpful for me in personal interactions. If I were aware of the results of my boss’s DISC survey (or even someone that I was going on a blind date with) before I actually got to know them through experience, I can see how being aware of their tendencies and overall perspective could help me navigate through the course of a conversation. However, having a preconceived notion of who they are may bias my actions in an adverse way; the preconceived notion might set up expectations about how we will get along. Like any tool, I would use DISC when appropriate. Would anyone care to provide any example/s of when using the DISC profile system would be highly effective? How about instances when it would be unwise to rely on DISC results?