As I mentor young MBA students for life after college the question arises as to what it takes to be a great and even successful manager in a world that throws up new challenges at the rate of knots.
Many of my young friends feel that one needs to be street smart, another claims that he would like autonomy at work and would like to be micro-managed. I dislike the words. What does street smart mean? It could get you just that far and no more. Street smartness, indeed - balderdash!I always felt that it was a way for the shirker to say that academic excellence was not required and could be replaced by a notion that one could work his way to the upper echelons of an organization by just being smart, whatever that would mean.
Micro management is another word that is loosely bandied about by people with little experience at work. Too much of autonomy to those with little work experience and even less cognitive skills can only end in disaster for the manager who empowers those who cannot handle responsibility with understanding.
However on reflection I concede that there could be elements that differentiate a great manager from an average one.
My laundry list would be:
1. Be culturally sensitive: India is without doubt the most diverse country on earth and it is imperative that one is culturally sensitive as work takes us across different cities.Carlos Ghosn, of Renault Nissan says says that he owes his success in Japan simply because he immersed himself in the Japanese culture and way of life.While it is important to be rooted and proud of one's own culture, being parochial is stupid in today's flat flat world.
2. Network: Network furiously is the mantra for successful managers. Networking and communication are key competencies that cannot be ignored. The use of social media may have destroyed intimacy but has improved reach. Reach out to as many people that you can and stay connected.
3. Multitask: This is surprising. The west thinks sequentially and so getting the brain to do do multiple tasks is a tad difficult. In today's world you just can't stay on one ball at a time but need to juggle many with finesse.
The above three would be that X - factor that seperate's the men from the boy's along with the long list of competencies that a person needs to have in terms of hard work, domain skills and the like.
If these constitute street smartness, then you have me in your corner.
