What Every Manager Should Know About How to Become An Effective Executive

In his book, The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker pointed out that the effective executive is the person who focuses on making a contribution.

This focus on the making of a contribution is the key. And the key to effectiveness comes in three areas:

1. in a person's work, its content, its level, its standards, and its impacts;

2. in his relationships with others, his superiors, his associates, and his subordinates; and

3. in his use of the tools of the executive, such as meetings and reports.

The executive who focuses on efforts and who stresses his authority downwards is a subordinate no matter how exalted his title and rank might be.

But the executive who focuses on contribution and who takes responsibility for results, no matter how junior he is, is, in the most literal sense of the term, "top management".

And what applies to the good executive applies to the good parent, or the good teacher, or the good spouse, or any person of great responsibility.

People who do not ask themselves, "What can I contribute?" are not only likely to aim too low; they are likely to aim at the wrong things as well.

Above all, they may define their responsibilities too narrowly, like the person who sees something wrong that he can easily and quickly set right, but who says, "That ain't my job, man!"

Remember: When you maximize your potential, everyone wins. When you don't, we all lose.

© Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in ezines, newsletters, and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required. Mail to: executiveandgroup-consulting@yahoo.com.

< p>Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Management Consultant and Trainer, conducts seminars, lectures, and writes articles on his theme: "... helping you maximize your potential." He offers management, marketing, and parenting resources at Maximizing Your Potential blog.

---

The Power of ?Ask?

For Call Center managers, it is not a pipe dream to improve employee moral while increasing productivity. It may even come easy to some to find fresh,... Read More

Managing Client Relationships

Managing Client Relationships: Even the best run organizations occasionally run into difficult situations with clients, consultants, and vendors. Often times it is not just a business process... Read More

The Truth About Performance Reviews

Now that it is January, many of you are putting together, or have just finished putting together your annual Performance Appraisals for your staff. Feedback on performance... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Feasibility

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Adapting Human Resource Functions

This article relates to the human resource functions competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It deals with employee feelings with regard to the quality and implementation... Read More

2 Steps For Increasing Company Profits or Performing Business Turnarounds

1. Eliminate wasteEliminate reports, habits, products, duplicate input, and processes that waste time and money. These drain labor, money and energy from the business.Two-thirds of products or... Read More

Employee Motivation: Make Everyone A Cheerleader For Your Company

Do you manage by walking around? What do you see? People excited about their job or people just going through the motions? Here are seven ways, that... Read More

Management - Mary Poppins Style!

Mary Poppins describes a style of management which has for too long been hidden in many businesses and organisations.Think about it.She's "Practically perfect in every way" -... Read More

Effective Multi Cultural International Business Meetings

Of the many areas in international business where cultural differences manifest is in the corporate meeting room. International meetings are an area where differences in cultural values,... Read More

Project Managment: Land the Plane Stop Doing and Start Succeeding

We all spend time on planning vacations. If it's not you then it's probably your significant other or travel agent. Think of the time we spend choosing... Read More

Saying One Thing, Doing Another...

This week I was asked to speak at an internal conference for a bank. The subject was how to build a great customer experience. However, the reality... Read More

Protect Your Computer System with a Comprehensive Security Policy

The most difficult part of creating a Security Policy for your business is determining what, exactly, to include in it. Never heard of a Security Policy before?... Read More

Virtual Assistance: A Money Saving Opportunity For Employers

What is a Virtual Assistant? A Virtual Assistant is a highly skilled, independent entrepreneur who provides business services in a remote or virtual environment. Some have used... Read More

When Business Becomes A Battlefield

"We have to be careful it's like a minefield out there" "I like to lob the odd grenade into the meeting to shake things up" "You have... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Personality Testing

Whilst tests measuring the creative or innovative personality exist, there are a number of inherent flaws. Some are noted below:a) Whether a creative or innovative type exists... Read More

The Power in Praising People

One of the keys to success is to have successful relationships. We are not islands and we don't get to the top by ourselves. And one of... Read More

How to Keep a Good Employee: Look, Listen, Learn

Recently a client told me a wonderful story about how a change of attitude helped her to keep a valued employee.Angry and grumbling about one of the... Read More

Why Would Anyone Do That in My Meeting?

Imagine that you open a meeting by saying, "We need to talk about the budget."And someone responds with, "I named my dog Budget because everyone tells me... Read More

Corporate Governance for Business Owners

It is clear that good Corporate Governance is in the best interests of shareholders of public companies, but how can it benefit shareholders of private companies and... Read More

Is A Bad Attitude Permanent

Today there is great weight put on a person's attitude. It is as if this is something for which they are individually responsible and should be held... Read More

Overcoming Resistance

Virtually any type of organizational change involves role transitions of some type. In light of role transitions, it is almost natural for employees to resist major changes... Read More

Before You Head Off, Make Sure You Know Where You Are Going - The Importance of Clear Objectives.

The title of this article sounds like simple advice, but so often we undertake activities and projects without really understanding how they are going to help us... Read More

Customer Focus - Just 5 SimpleThings You Need to Think About

You can boil down the difference between successful businesses and the rest in how they work with their customers, in just five areas.So, what does this mean?... Read More

So, You Want to be in Management? Five Essential Factors that Will Determine Your Chances

The following information is based upon over 500 interviews with senior executives with whom I conducted over the past four years. These senior executives represent a variety... Read More

You Get the Behavior You Reward

On consulting assignments, here are some of the questions I frequently ask the employees I interview:1. How does your boss measure you?2. When the end of the... Read More

Workplace Violence - People are Dying Going to Work

Workplace violence has become a tragic reality today. From minor instances of harassment to homicide today's workplace is littered with danger.Violence can be described as the unjust... Read More