Page 310 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 12 • The Manager as Leader

leadership skills can be developed. Because leadership is so important in busi-
ness, most management training programs today emphasize leadership and
effective human relations.

CHECKPOINT

Why do leaders need human relations skills?

Leadership Characteristics

Although managers have many responsibilities, one of the most important is creating
an atmosphere that encourages employees to do their best work to make the busi-
ness successful. Individual employees, however, have their own goals and needs. Em-
ployees will be most productive when the work meets their needs as well as those of
the company. Managers must work to satisfy important needs of each employee
while also meeting the goals of the business. Success in this task requires leadership.
Because leadership has been shown to be directly related to the success of an
organization, it is important that managers possess certain leadership characteristics.
Leaders help employees get work done correctly and willingly. A poor manager
may be able to get employees to perform the necessary tasks, but the work may be
done poorly and inefficiently. A good manager, on the other hand, creates a work
environment in which employees enjoy their work and want to do a good job.
In the past several years, many leaders have been studied to identify the char-
acteristics that make them successful. The common characteristics that effective
leaders possess are shown in Figure 12-1. Having those characteristics does not
ensure that a person will be a good manager. Leaders must also understand the
work to be done, and the business in which they work must be well organized.
In addition, as you learned in the last chapter, managers must be able to plan,
organize, implement, and control work.

PHOTO: © DIGITAL VISION. Think of someone you know in

a leadership position. What
makes that person effective?
How could his or her leader-
ship style be improved?

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