What is a manager ?

A leader is one who usually gives instructions to his subordinates, and generally inspires and enthuses them and gives them guidance.

A number of different terms are used for ‘manager’, including ‘director’, ‘administrator’ and ‘president’. The term ‘manager’ is used more frequently in profit-making organizations, while the others are used more widely in government and non-profit organizations such as universities, hospitals and social work agencies.

What, then, is a manager?

In the most general sense management should be defined as a science and art how to win, as an ability to achieve business objectives applying people’s motives, intellect and labour.

When used collectively, the term ‘management’ refers to those people, who are responsible for making and carrying out decisions within the system. An individual manager is a person who directly supervises people in an organization.

Some basic characteristics seem to apply to managers in all types of organizations; they include hard work on a variety of activities & direct personal relationships.

Almost everything a manager does involves decisions. The reason for making a decision is that a problem exists. In decision-making there is always some uncertainty and risk.

It’s not easy to say who is a manager and who is not, because it depends entirely on the functions performed.

The qualities desired in a manager will vary according to the level of management. As the content of management varies with different organizational levels, so the qualities required of a manager will vary accordingly.

Besides a manager of today willing to get success in his managerial activity should know about the peculiarities of verbal and non–verbal dealings – gestures and poses assumed in communication, about the existence of communicational bars and the ways of their overcome and other useful information and tools of scientific management.

The manager of tomorrow is likely to be more analytical than intuitive, and more functional – the future will require that from him. His authority derives from different circumstances and may change the whole concept of authority in business. Science is demonstrating its success although it will never oust innate human qualities.

Managing is a hard job. There’s a lot to be done and relatively little time to do it.

The engineer can finish a design on a particular day, and the lawyer can win or lose a case at a certain time. But the manager’s job is like ‘Old Man’s River’ - it just keeps going.