When reading this article, I was struck by how important the role of a manager is for an organization, and how the modern thought regarding who best fills the role of a manager is outdated. Today many organizations fill the role manager by using it as a “reward” for performance in non-managerial roles or give it to most experienced or tenured employees (Gallup Analytic Group, 2015). As the text discussed, being a good leader takes five key attributes: being a motivator, are assertive to the point where they can drive outcomes in the face of adversity and resistance, make decisions based on productivity and not politics, create a culture of accountability, and build open, trustworthy relationships (Gallup Analytic Group, 2015). These 5 attributes would also seem to be the attributes needed to create a corporate strategy and implement it in a corporate setting. Moving forward we can discuss the roles that these leaders fill such as informational roles, such as sharing information and being a spokesperson, decisional roles in making top decisions and the interpersonal role being a leader and liaison (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008). I would submit that most leaders can be a combination of the three.

I would also venture to state that these attributes are also ones needed to become an effective CEO. Additionally, Agle, Mitchell, and Sonnenfeld (1999) found that an effective CEO must be able to manage a relationship between stakeholders, internal managers, and their own value-perception. I believe that there are similarities between what makes an effective manager and an effective CEO, although accordingly CEO’s have a greater burden when it comes to performance factors and strategic implementation and leadership. Some reading from the texts also states that personality traits of a CEO are viable means of screening, however not much importance should be placed on them since many different personalities can be CEO material (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008). Demographically speaking, CEO’s were historically white males, ages 45-60, with a degree in finance, law, or accounting, however this paradigm is changing as more private company CEO’s are reflecting the diversity of the U.S. (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008). What I found interesting is that in a study of CEO’s with higher levels of narcissistic personality traits, the firms they lead had higher share price and earning-per-share than those CEO’s that did not (Olsen, Dworkis, and Young, 2013).

When discussing back to what makes an effective team, the text corroborates what we have learned in previous classes about the need for a team made up of diverse backgrounds. This not only includes a diverse demographic background, but also diverse in terms of functions in an organization, and experience (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008). When we touch on succession planning, the text notes that succession planning can help facilitate a smooth transition to when top management personnel leave (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008). Additionally Groves (2005) writes that succession planning can help develop middle and lower management employees and instead of shifting the responsibility to a human resources department, organizations can start implementing a mentor network, identifying high potential employees, and finally developing high potentials employees through project-based learning experiences and manager-facilitated workshops.

References

Agle, B. R., Mitchell, R. K., & Sonnenfeld, J. A. (1999). Who matters to Ceos? An investigation of stakeholder attributes and salience, corpate performance, and Ceo values. Academy of management journal, 42(5), 507-525.

Carpenter, M. A., & Sanders, W. G. (2008). Strategiv Management. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Gallup Analytical Group. (2015). State of the American Manager. Gallup Inc.

Groves, K. S. (2007). Integrating leadership development and succession planning best practices. Journal of management development, 26(3), 239-260.

Olsen, K. J., Dworkis, K. K., & Young, S. M. (2013). CEO narcissism and accounting: A picture of profits. Journal of management accounting research, 26(2), 243-267.