According to established traditions, at the center of each company is a top manager, and the role of the leader is extremely important, since it is he who must organize the business and promote it in every possible way. In this capacity, general directors or presidents, heads of large holdings and corporations act. Sometimes a company is managed by a whole group of top managers, and the role of the leader is distributed among them according to their authority.
Main Functions
The traditional approach that defines the role of the leader usually assumes that he has two main functions. This is a search for options for organizing a business and making decisions on its conduct, and it is the management that should ensure the positioning of the company in this market segment. These are, of course, the most important tasks, their successful solution can only be carried out by a very highly educated and talented specialist who has some experience in the profile of this business. The role of the leader into competently create a team of performers and establish their well-coordinated work.
Traditional logic here, as a rule, does not win, and therefore a top manager must have unlimited thinking of any kind, alogism is often useful, because everything new in the world was born purely outside of stereotypes. The role of the head of the organization is not to shoulder as much work as possible. He must have helpers. And it's very good if there is a skeptic among them, sorting out all the emerging proposals according to the criteria of usefulness and feasibility.
These are only the very first tasks, the solution of which is prescribed in the role of the head of the organization. It all starts with the selection of specialists in a team of like-minded people who will meet all the parameters listed in this set of requirements. However, over time, all traditional views are subject to adjustment, as the conditions in which one has to work change - literally everything, from political to climatic.
Correction of traditional views
As practice has shown, a person with a traditional approach to the role of management in today's business will not succeed. It would seem that the second task of the main ones is less creative, but it is immeasurably more important, requiring the most serious attention in order to attract the best, most highly qualified specialists. The role of the leader in the team is fundamental, he must ensure the sustainable functioning of the entire company in order not to loseplace in the market niche chosen by the company. The head of the team always has a business development perspective.
This is how mathematicians work, who have a necessary condition (the first problem) and a sufficient condition (the second problem). The goal of mathematicians will be achieved if the formula contains both sufficient and necessary conditions in the aggregate. So in business, both tasks are required. We need a special system of leadership roles. It controls the level of financial and economic indicators in acceptable values, otherwise the business will not be successful.
The manager debugs the management system that controls the quality of products, determines its price-quality ratio, establishes the most efficient supply systems - both material and technical, and also deals with budgeting and manages personnel. It is the role of the leader in the formation of the team that is fundamental. It is under his leadership that strategic and operational planning programs are drawn up and implemented. Even the leader is primarily responsible for the development of the social block. All of his responsibilities are hard to list.
Functional control system
Even the most advanced, most talented and most able-bodied leader will not be able to cover everything, and therefore, sooner or later, he will begin to shift certain parts of the role of the leader in business development to his assistants. This is how functional divisions appear, and the management structure becomes functional. She has flawsenough, since such a system has been in use for so long that it has long been considered obsolete. The role and functions of the manager have now undergone significant changes.
The functional approach existed not only in the USSR, until the 80s of the twentieth century it was the basic methodology in the rest of the world. It's just that later there appeared various in their usefulness and technical software tools that became a necessity. Then other, much more advanced approaches to management activities were formed. Organizational leadership roles are no longer spontaneous.
Previously, the control object was not integral, since all its functions were divided, structural units interacted weakly, and this leads to monopoly and the pursuit of one's own interests. The role of the leader in the conflict was more of a judicial one. It was impossible to divide powers between structural subdivisions with sufficient clarity, responsibility too. Both vertically and horizontally, information permeability was poor, which means low efficiency and greatly affects the quality of decisions that managers make.
Dangers of the functional approach
When specialized functional units of the organization are created to solve a whole range of tasks (the second part of the role and functions of the manager), the number of personnel is rapidly increasing, but at the same time, the level of company management is falling sharply. This is a very viscous management model, with a loss of ability to quickly respond to any change regardinginnovation and market conditions.
And if a particularly difficult situation brews, the shortcomings of the functional management system will become especially clear. The thread of management is lost, and, in fact, functional management becomes situational. And here only the personal characteristics of the leader with subjective criteria for the correctness of the decisions that he makes can save the situation. And in this case, the social roles of the leader go to the background, and even to the third plan. Most often, the decisions made are tough, but the result is not long in coming.
Management Information Systems
The way out of such situations is the acquisition of various information systems. Resource management systems (ERP systems) are considered central in terms of efficiency, and the most advanced software products in Russia and abroad - Microsoft, Oracle, SAP AG are supplemented by On Line Analytical Processing systems, which are designed for real-time information processing and analysis right at the workplace. those who use these systems. This, of course, is not cheap for the company, since the software products themselves are expensive, and require staff training and the involvement of highly qualified specialists to install them and ensure operation.
If poorly organized heterogeneous local information systems are created within the structure of the company, oriented towards functional management, the costs of acquiring software will not be recouped. And this is where the role ofleader in the formation of the team, in setting tasks that the team is able to master and solve. It is only by an effort of will that local systems can be united into one control system, so that a whole canvas can be obtained from a "patchwork quilt". Chaos cannot be informatized or automated. Here the whole set of software tools will not be able to help.
Transition to process structure
Since the functional method of management has exhausted its capabilities, in world practice it is being replaced by a methodology fixed in the systems of general management of work flows, their quality and in international quality management standards (Total Quality Management, Work Flow Management System, ISO series). It is not possible to dwell in detail on the very essence of such a management system, since this is extremely voluminous information, but it is quite possible to consider the possibilities of the role of a leader that open up during the transition.
At the initial stage, large groups of processes (business processes) are identified. These are logistical support, the product life cycle process, activities in the financial and economic sphere, innovation and marketing, as well as personnel management, accounting, document management, regulatory support and control. This also includes the social block of the business process. These are only the main groups, there can be much more of them - up to ten, and each block must have its own leader, who is solely responsible for the organization and results of the process,under him.
The stages of implementation of business processes should be provided by special functional units, all employees of which report to their manager and the process manager, who contacts the customer of the entire project, and reports directly to the top manager - the first person of the entire company.
Manager or production worker
What a leader should be, they argue hotly and for a long time. They did not come to a common denominator. Who manages more effectively - a person who has been taught to manage, or one who has independently gone through all levels of production? In modern society, many cultural, social and economic changes have taken place and are taking place, the role of a leader now requires special personal qualities. First of all, this is a new way of thinking, professional culture and appropriate special training. The leader must be able to apply the latest achievements of science in management in order to master a variety of specific conditions and situations. Here, the system method must be supplemented with a situational one.
There is no single right way to manage a team and a business process, the most effective way is the one that best suits the current situation. Leaders need a style of behavior and new thinking in order to understand the changes that are taking place in public life, to try on situations and instantly develop the right strategy for action. Such thinking cannot be formed by trial and error, you need to learn to lead professionally, acquiring a certainmanagerial specialization among new and existing speci alties.
Achievement motivation
The leader of the new formation must first of all master the economic, social, psychological methods of management, leaving behind the administrative methods that have worked out forever. New thinking appears depending on the motivation. With achievement motivation, success in business becomes much closer. This happens when a manager seeks to surpass the achieved level, to raise the efficiency of work organization to a new level. A kind of competition, and not only with others, but also with oneself. Achievement motivation - the tendency to improve results when success of any significance is noted and a new goal is immediately set.
The level of claims is constantly growing. In extreme cases (in case of failures), it remains in place. Activity with achievement motivation is always high, such personal qualities as a propensity for risk, independence of action, and high responsibility are manifested. Leaders with such a personal characteristic are confident in their own capabilities, in inevitable success, as well as in the absolute correctness of the actions they take. Their self-esteem is very high, and with success it rises even more. This is a high level of achievement motivation.
At the middle level, managers prefer clearly defined and achievable goals. They do their job the way they are used to, without trying to improve it. Such leaders do not have a strong passion for their work,they endure failures much more calmly, and are quite satisfied with a little success. If achievement motivation is low, leaders are more concerned about not getting into trouble than reaching the top. They are not characterized by any of the qualities of a modern leader: there is not the slightest independence in decision-making, they are more likely to follow the advice of assistants. They do not like to lead, it is too difficult, they avoid any kind of "sudden movements", and therefore they are not up to quality breakthroughs.
When the manager and employees are partners
Every leader has responsibilities, and among them are entrusted powers. First, he must strictly observe the laws. Leadership methods must be timely and appropriate to the situation. The leader must organize the work of employees competently, improving the management of each unit and the organization as a whole.
The head is responsible for the rational provision and use of the resources available to the organization, attracting investments, concluding contracts. Business qualities are brought up in subordinates, and their growth depends almost entirely on competent leadership. Subordinates are necessarily involved in the elements of self-management, and the opinions of employees and their proposals must be taken into account, especially when they relate to the development of decisions and their adoption.
The leader is a role model
The leader must give to subordinatesa positive example, exemplary performance of duty, as well as an example of worthy behavior. It is the head of the company who makes the final decisions on the main areas of activity, issues orders and other acts. The manager acts on behalf of his company and represents it in all external organizations.
Disposes of property in accordance with the law, opens bank accounts - both settlement and others. Hires and fires employees within the state, rewards the best and imposes pen alties and the like. It is very difficult to list all the duties assigned to the head.
