Summary
The article refers to the most frequent errors of managers in organizations, highlights the importance of the habit of delegating authority from managers, as well as a reflection on the tendency to servant leadership of leaders as a consequence of the development of Leadership styles.
Introduction
Thinking like a manager is a process, you are not born being a manager, although you have qualities and attitudes that are compatible with those of a leader, you have to develop them in a time of training, in a learning process and work experience, sometimes They are imitated and in others it is a matter of not imitating the behavior of managers at all, hence the process of training a manager has empirical and other cognitive aspects, in addition, we must add the ways of manifesting themselves with the education received in the process that represents everyday life.
Managers, however, are people, who can make mistakes, thinking of a manager as that person in the organization who makes no mistakes and who makes all the decisions of his work team or organization is a mistake.
The most frequent manager mistakes
Managers make mistakes like all human beings, some are quite common and are present in a large part of the managers of most organizations. Lack or excess of control is an example of this.
Excess of control (Manager who exercises arbitrariness): The excess of control over our subordinates and over the organization in general, brings problems not only to them but to the managers themselves, always make the decisions of a work group, impose conditions on employees, being too critical of the tasks performed by subordinates, are some of the practices of managers that conform to this autocratic approach, quite the opposite happens if the manager refuses to use the control he has.
Lack of control (Manager who does not exercise authority): The lack of control over the tasks that we delegate to our subordinates also affects the organization, if what is planned is not measured, such as knowing where the organization is in relation to the objectives set, letting employees make decisions without the knowledge of management, not issuing criteria when appropriate, not using power to resolve conflicts, as well as not correcting the mistakes of subordinates, are some of the most frequent problems that organizations have when managers not adequately controlled.
Managers should not make the decisions of their employees, it should stimulate and influence them so that they are motivated to make their own decisions, it is a source of trust for employees and they will grow as they have the ability to make decisions, so contributes to the process of training a new manager, timely criticism is necessary, all employees are people and make mistakes, as well as correction and demand for a bad decision, a job well done must also be compensated.
Incomplete communication is another of the most frequent errors in management, a manager must not only transmit information, but must be open to listening to his employees, dedicating himself to giving orders without receiving feedback is not beneficial for the manager, nor for the organization under his command, at the same time not guiding and only listening to his employees is the reverse of the coin, the manager must be prepared to make decisions, to enforce objectives by influencing his actions and thoughts, to guide the organization, and you will only do so if you listen to your employees and if you correctly guide and direct them to results. The manager who acts as a leader does not give orders, guides, influences, guides the work team, the organization, to the vision created in their minds.
Another big problem is when to delegate, to what extent to do it and to whom, it is proposed that delegating is a 4-stage process:
Choose the trained person
Explain the objectives
Give the necessary authority and means to carry out the work
Maintain contact (Communication)
One last and very important aspect can be included, which is to control the result, since any authority that is delegated is the ultimate responsibility from the manager. Knowing how to delegate is a virtue of management, it is a source of development and growth of the employees of an organization, when delegating not only transmits authority but also transmits confidence to the subordinate. Knowing how to delegate is very important, allowing the manager to focus on the future of the company, have strategic thinking, lead and achieve results.
The following table summarizes some of the most common manager mistakes:
| Wrong assumptions | (Best manager practices) |
| I delegate responsibility, tasks and functions. I keep control | Delegates authority, is aware of the decisions of his subordinates, therefore of the course of the company |
| As the boss, I have the plan well thought out and I direct the employee by clearly telling them what to do | Just listen and watch, allow your subordinates to make their own decisions |
| As a boss I am essential and as a judge I impart justice and dictate what is right and wrong | It encourages teamwork, it does not decide for its employees. |
| My scarcest business resource, logically, is money, technology and knowledge | He creates managerial capacities and skills, trains and trains his subordinates for managerial positions, that is my distinctive resource: the human resource |
| I do not allow mistakes | It allows errors, assesses and evaluates the scope of the error, not only due to its economic nature but also due to its psychological effect on the subordinate who commits it |
Servant leadership and leadership styles
It can be said with certainty that a leader must move between one style and another of direction according to the situation to which he is subjected, sometimes he will have to use all his power to order or punish what was wrongly done and in others he should only guide and listen, in Depending on the situation, he will always be acting between a more autocratic style and a more democratic one. See figure 1. Now there is some measure for the above, at what level of managerial style will the leader remain the longest?
Figure 1. Extremes of address styles
If we start from the current trend that the leader is the person that we find closest to the masses, to the workers, who can only then represent them and be part of their interests, which are those of the organization, the leader will have a new style, the style of serving the organization you represent.
Servant leadership then appears as the management style in which the manager is a leader, who thinks and manifests himself through the organizational collective, and the organization manifests itself through him. It is the member of the organization who has the power to serve, and who grants a part of its main power to the organization, the power of decision.
Hence, we find this style at the forefront of current managerial thinking, bosses disappear as subjects who give orders to become leaders who provide services to their work teams, guide the group towards a common goal, which is the goal of the organization Only then will they meet their goals and those of the system.
Of course, a leader is part of a system, and this system must be designed to serve, so we cannot speak of servant leadership without finding a service system to support it.
Bibliography
Mc. Graw-Hill. Inc. (1983). "Learnig to think like a Manager." USA
Mc. Graw-Hill. Inc. (1983). "A case of working smarter, not harder." USA
