RECOGNIZING TRUE EXECUTIVES
Management is the second biggest barrier to growing and continuously growing any successful business.
Many small businesses owners decide to keep their business small because they couldn't find any responsible people to help them manage the business. Some promote people that are good at jobs to management positions and have to continually bypass and manage for them.
DO NOT PROMOTE TO MANAGEMENT PEOPLE WHO DON'T DO WHAT THEY SAY WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO AND EXPRESS THE FOLLOWING REASONS WHY:
"I JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME"
"I WASN'T SURE WHAT YOU WANTED"
"I COULDN'T DO IT BECAUSE……."
"NO ONE WOULD HELP ME"
Etc.
A DISHONESTY THAT IS OFTEN ALLOWED
It is the ruin of so many people without realizing why they are having some difficulties in life. They regularly say they are going to do something and then don't do it. This behavior is considered normal to many people in society. In other words, it's generally accepted.
When I reviewed how we chose our managers and executives in the different businesses I've had over the years, the key determining factor was Responsibility. I noticed that responsible personnel really made concerted efforts to do what they said they would do, and then they would be very remorseful if they did not reach the target they had agreed to but, quitting was never an option.
You will find the people who have a low responsibility level will be the ones prone to use the above statements as excuses for not doing what they said they would do. It's bad enough when our children do this. However, because someone didn't correct them, they continued to use these statements throughout the rest of their lives. The parents should have educated their children not to promise things they could not honestly do. A tip with children is only to reward them after the job is done, not before.
THE OTHER THREE FACTORS
The other factors that have to be taken into account when choosing managers are:
SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
SPHERE OF PRECEPTION
SPHERE OF PREDICTION
SPHERE OF INFLUENCE DEFINITION: A field or area in which an individual or organization has the power to affect events and developments.
I recognized the Sphere of Influence as the amount of space and number of personnel that one could be responsible for. As an executive, you may have to think about 100 different things simultaneously. The greater your Sphere of Influence, the greater your Sphere of Perception and Prediction. I learned about this in the '80s when I ran large crews of men. I personally had no problem running 40 to 45 guys on a job. I would perceive where everyone was and what they were or weren't doing. I could be doing a job and at the same time handling 5 or 10 other things—not forgetting anything and no dropped balls. This is not a brag session as many business owners can and are doing this without realizing it.
I had a great deal of difficulty replacing myself as a project manager. I eventually realized that not too many people could do that, and if they were able to run 40 to 50 guys, they probably would have their own business. I eventually replaced myself with my 5 top guys and gave each a crew of 9 or 10 to be responsible for, and, bingo, we had the projects getting completed on time and within budget.
This is the ingredient that many business owners and executives have not been able to describe or even talk about when looking for replacements. Another term could be "Your zone of responsibility." The five guys I chose to run a crew of 9 or 10 each were the guys that were the most responsible. They could get guys to work for them, and they did what they said they were going to do.
GAINING KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is a key factor in gaining a greater sphere of influence and responsibility. Good managers and executives become good managers with a combination of education and application. They also would have to have had an innate level of responsibility for the organization in the first place.
You can also get an idea from what people are interested in whether or not they are management material by what they read up on themselves—what books they have read. Managers and executives earn their positions because they are doing them without the need for a title. If they are just given the title and hope they can do the job, nobody wins with this approach.
I realize I am scratching the surface here on selecting and training managers and executives, but I hope it is helpful.