After reading McKinsey's 7S framework, this statement made an impact: "Management is the art of achieving goals through the effort of others."
It's amazing how many well-intentioned managers never take the time to distill their work into this simple statement. We can all be guilty of this: focusing on the work that needs to get done while overlooking the people who do the work.
The dilemma is, in a business setting, success depends heavily on the level of effort and commitment from the team, and that makes management of employees critical. Management doesn't happen in a vacuum; it happens in conjunction with the people one manages. Some may think management is about telling others what to do, but this is only one part of it.
Motivating and inspiring a team to achieve goals is a critical managerial skill. This is a different mindset than management by objectives, which focuses on clearly defined outcomes. This critical skill recognizes that effective management is about motivat...
