The Importance of Competent Managers

I often lecture on the topic of management and have often been quoted saying that 80% of those in management and leadership positions are in the wrong seat on the bus.  To be more specific a certain percentage shouldn’t be on the bus at all, but rather ejected as it moves down the road.  Their character flaws and general lack of knowledge for operations under their control significantly hamper the successful progress of an organization and the development of the people who are a part of that organization; in other words they suck all the oxygen out of the air and deplete all other forms of energy thereby hindering the better employees from maximizing their potential.   In general, we universally lack competent leaders in our families and the countless organizations that are a direct and indirect part of our lives.

Dr. Bob Moorehead of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church, described it this way:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints.  We spend more but have less; we buy ore but enjoy it less.  We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences but less time.  We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgment; more experts but more problems; more medicine but less wellness.  We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get too tired read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.  We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.  We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.  We have learned how to make a living but not a life; we’ve added years to life but not life to years.  We’ve been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.  We’ve conquered outer space but not inner space.  We’ve done larger things but not better things.  We’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the soul.  We’ve split the atom but not our prejudice.  We write more but learn less.  We plan more but accomplish less.  We’ve learned to rush but not to wait.  We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever but have less communication.  These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men and short character; steep profits and shallow relationships.  These are the times of world peace but domestic warfare; more leisure but less fun; more kinds of food but less nutrition.  These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, of fancier houses but broken homes.  These are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw-away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.  It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom.

After reading Dr. Moorehead’s assessment of the current state of human life, most of us would agree that he was spot on, and in fact, his points are at the heart of the deficiencies of people in general and more specifically are the contributing factors to the ruling majority: incompetent managers.  Despite all this change in our environment, there is something that has remained, and continues to remain relatively constant.  With minor variations and stylistic differences, what has not changed in several thousand years are the basic skills that lie at the heart of effective, satisfying, growth-producing human relationships.  Freedom, dignity, trust, love, and honesty in relationships have always been among the goals of human beings, and these same basic human skills still like at the heart of effective human interaction.  This series will discuss skills that help us become more competent as managers and leaders in our families, businesses, churches, and communities.  These skills include managing conflict, motivating employees, communicating supportively, gaining power and influence, building effective teams, leading positive change, empowering and delegating, solving problems creatively, managing stress and developing self-awareness.

In my next blog I will discuss the first topic of this series, developing self-awareness.