Management Styles and Insights Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Styles and Insights - Term Paper Example They are the drivers, the goal seekers who manage a broad spectrum of responsibilities. They are responsible in meeting a set of objectives and manage a group of people that work towards these goals. More than the glamour that is attached to the title, they are really the moving force behind every company. They make things happen. Having spoken with Ms. Elizabeth Meyer, Senior Product Manager for an international bank, we get a glimpse of how grueling this job can be. The targets can be daunting and extremely overwhelming. Managing her team alone is a challenge because she deals with five people from different backgrounds and with diverse personalities. She has to serve as the medium to enable to make the team fully functional, creating harmony and ensuring that individual differences are complimented and talents are maximized. There is also that challenge of managing the relationships with coordinating departments, who have as much quirks as her own. And of course, there is this muc h greater challenge of managing her superiors, the senior management team, ensuring that expectations are met at exceeding levels. It’s quite a tough, but rewarding job, she says. MANAGING PEOPLE Ms. Meyer says she is part democratic, part autocrat when asked what type of leader she is. It’s a challenge managing people who have different temperaments and moods, and different working styles. She has five highly experienced and greatly skilled product managers under her wing, one of which is much senior than her in terms of age. When she came in as their department head, Ms. Meyer was only 29 years old, and her age was one of the challenges she had to tweak to work to her advantage. During her previous stint in another international bank, she says she was 90% democratic, with the goal to empower each teammate to make their decisions. However, having a 35-year old team member who was not exactly thrilled to be under her management was what drove her to become more firm in her leadership style. Age seemed to have become an issue for this particular subordinate who felt like she was underrated. The attitude affected the boss-subordinate relationship such that there was too much resistance. Ms. Meyer felt that she could not afford to risk the ire of this team member as she is also deemed to be the top performer, albeit lacking in management skills to take over the Senior Management/ Department Head position. Today, she exercises her role as a manager whenever a crucial decision to be made, reminding her team that at the end of the day, she is still liable for each move the team makes. She feels that she was able to earn the trust of this subordinate by injecting the right amount of balance – she listens to this subordinate’s suggestions but also makes sure that she has a firm stance on certain issues, whenever needed. The road was not exactly smooth, so to speak, as she had her own personal challenges to address and a few unwise business decisions as well. But in the end, a good relationship founded the way to harmony in their workplace. Ms. Meyer enjoys being a leader, as she exactly knows how to motivate her team towards their goals. She is results oriented, and she makes sure that her people share her vision. They set short term and long term goals and conduct regular meetings to update each other on their own tasks. She also enjoins the participation of