AN EFFECTIVE MANAGER IS A CREDIBLE MANAGER TOO

Transcription

1 AN EFFECTIVE MANAGER IS A CREDIBLE MANAGER TOO Dr. Sebastian Rupert Mampilly Reader School of Management Studies Cochin University of Science and Technology

2 Early writers on management took somewhat a simplistic view when they sought to explain whether a manager was doing a good job. They focused on two aspects of managerial performance namely, efficiency and effectiveness. As one of the celebrities on the discipline puts it, Efficiency means doing things right, effectiveness is doing right things. Doing things right implicated minimizing the cost of resources consumed in the process and doing right things meant selecting appropriate goals and then striving to achieve them economically. Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of interest in leadership effectiveness of managers that has protracted in several directions. Credibility of the manager is yet another insight into the phenomenon of effective managerial leadership. Leadership is largely about one s people orientation and ability in persuading others. This is a risky-shift proposition as people do create problems and they themselves offer the solutions as well. The fine art of managing people centers on how well one understands them and positions with them in times of trouble and challenge alike. If people trust their leader, they will offer their best. This is corporate charade exemplified. Persuasive managers are taken to be persons of good sense, good will, and good moral character. Being genuine is essential these days and in this age, when there is so much of politicking, distrust and game playing at the work place; people flock to a manager who is honest and straightforward. People look for truth, and if they find truth in a manager, they team up with him/her and perform. Honesty is the best policy! It is no more old fashioned to be honest!!

3 CREDIBILITY OF MANAGERS Credibility refers to a basic trait of an individual, an aspect of one s personality and value system. It essentially means that the person s behaviour is consistent with his declared values and is perceived by others to be ethical, moral, fair, just honest and above all dependable and trustworthy in a social context. This trait is an important ingredient in the persona of a manager that helps him/her attain and retain the loyalty of subordinates in order to obtain their willing co-operation and support. Managers are credible when they act in ways that are consistent with their professed values, and using these values to guide their actions, managers inspire trust, faith and confidence in subordinates. The credibility of managers also refers to their perceived ability to possess valid information and their commitment to share the knowledge without bias. Credibility depends on factors like expertise relevant to the job, reliability as an information source, motives and intentions as a decision maker, expression of warmth and friendliness, dynamism as a communicator, and a favourable opinion among others in creating trust in them. When managers are credible and when they are believed to be so, subordinates feel loyal and committed to their manager and eventually to the organization. They become motivated and show willingness to make personal sacrifices for the company, proud to tell that they are part of the manager s team. Managerial credibility gets debased when subordinates discern their manager to have lied and was manipulative to have used them only in pursuit of his/her self-interest. When subordinates feel their manager is not credible, they do initially create noise, eventually feel uncommitted, become disenchanted and start thinking of leaving the organization. More often, such subordinates tend to express that they work largely on account of extrinsic rewards with the result that they feel estranged and unsupported, feel bereft of any psychological contract with the organization and can be lured away by promising and better extrinsic rewards from elsewhere.

4 RECIPE FOR MANAGERS Credibility is the foundation of purposeful and meaningful managerial leadership. Upon the solid foundation of credibility, do the leaders inspire subordinates towards accepting the former s right to initiate action, to status and deference, build their forward looking dreams about the organization and themselves. Studies show that an important behavioural indicator of managerial credibility is the fulfillment of the avowed benefits to subordinates in exchange for their co-operation and compliance. Many managers, though conscious of the importance of being trustworthy and maintaining the reputation for being credible as individuals, are yet to realize the organizational significance of credibility. Managers earn their credibility with considerable effort and over time. A manager has to wield his/her position and engage purposefully in behavioural styles that would help achieve goals and priorities, but has to desist temptations to do things and behave in ways that would tarnish his/her image. Managers can enhance their credibility by clarifying their personal values and belief systems with others and by attempting to integrate theirs with those of others through a process of consensus building. Shared values are the base planks for ensuring productive and genuine relationships. Lack of proper understanding and disagreements over values can lead to confrontations and false notions germane to strained and stymied interactions. IN A NUTSHELL Credible managers are those who take a definite stand on issues, but at the same time, maintain openness to alternatives and listen carefully to feedback. They demonstrate what is important to them by showing how they spend time, by their priorities on their agenda, by the questions they ask, by the people they keep company with, the places they go to and the results they recognize and reward. Effective managers, by being credible, create opportunities for them to live up to and practice what they declare and profess.

5 Managerial effectiveness is thus an affair of heart and soul as much as it is a matter of reason and effort. Managers, in order to be effective, may be encouraged to be concerned about achieving their output goals and displaying exemplary behaviour. Managing, to sum up, may be appreciated as a complex, broad ranging engagement, requiring managerial skills and abilities for planning and executing work and dealing with others in a consistent and graceful way. #########