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Maturity in management: some guideposts
Vicwpint
171
Airlines, and the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Denver. Based on field work by executives from Embassy Suites and American Airlines, these companies and the School of HRM recently hosted a Japanese executive working for the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. This individual delivered several seminars on Japanese service expectations to management and staff of Embassy Suites and American Airlines and faculty and students from the University of Denver. The focus of these seminars was cross-cultural awareness and development of operating policies to utilize this knowledge and accommodate the needs of the Japanese guest. Individual properties (e.g. the New York Hilton for example) have had or have similar programs, but little to nothing is being developed on a broad or chainwide scale. These particular seminars were focused on the Japanese visitor, but the same principles would apply regardless of the ethnic or cultural segment an organization targets. The bottom line in this discussion is that the globalization of the hospitality industry and the desire of American companies to attract international visitors will require an effort by both the public and the private sector to familiarize agencies and organizations with the cultures of the countries they wish to do business with, and therefore impact the economic stability of their region. The active Asian market and the recent occurrences in Eastern Europe will make cross-cultural training a buzz word for the nineties. The lack of awareness of these problems is not solely an American one, but it would be unfortunate if the ‘ugly American’ image was transferred from the American traveler to the American host due to a lack of initiative and action by the American travel industry. Instead it would be desirable to get rid of the ‘ugly American’ image altogether, for both travelers and hosts.
Maturity in management: David
some guideposts
H. Freed
Hahnemann University, Broad t.3 Vine, Philadelphia, PA 19102-l 192, U.S.A.
Contemporary management literature is replete with prescriptions for instant success. Even the titles of best-selling volumes such as ‘The One Minute Manager’ suggest a certain simplicity about the profession of management which is naive. Management is more than a cookbook chemistry, color-by-numbers activity which one ‘does’. It just as fundamentally characterizes who a manager is and what he knows. These essentials are at the essence of what is referred to in other contexts as maturity. Maturity in management is difficult to prescribe but relatively simple to recognize when one comes across it. There are individuals in every organization whose stature and following arc disproportionate to their formal title: this difference is explained by maturity. Since maturity accrues through time and cxpcrience rather than being initiated directly, there is no
Viewpoint
172
more benefit in admonishing ‘how to’ become mature than in ‘how to’ become, for example, intelligent or insightful. These are labels which describe a destination rather than the points along the way, and there are many routes to the same endpoint. The remainder of this article presents an informal inventory of ten common attributes of the mature manager so the reader will recognize them when he comes across them. 1. When Ire’s tkre. responsible
for a given
In either
case.
and
Ita’s responsible. success
without
or failure; respect
Sometimes other
times
to whether
the
the mature
manager
he was just there outcome
assumes full responsiblity on behalf of the organization, on their inquiry being pursued to completion regardless
when
was favorable
is directly it happened. or not.
he
People dealing with him can count of whether
it falls into his ‘area’ or
not. 2. He sof~~s pro~~~~~~~s, hr &wm’t &scribe i~~~?r~~. The mature
manager
never
transmits
a
message from point A to point B with its fidelity unaltorcd. Hc adds enough value to either arrest the problem completely or reduce its dimensions before passing it to the appropriate party for resolution. The mature charactcrizcs rather than addresses
manager abhors ‘documentation’ issues, f-k cot1tin~i~~usly examines
to assure that they
and contain
Ci~tions
3.
fit*
tloc:srr’r
inrrcmcntal rcsearchcs
IrfrI7
ill%
lo oIV!I
action-oricntcd
ir moI~rcc
lo
fIsP
a positive
it. Dt!diGltCd
since that typically his own communioutcome
rcsourccs.
pilrticularly
ones, arc the IlliltllrC manager’s last resort rather than his first one. f fc both his 0wII ~~r~ilili~i~ti~)l~ and outside ftncs for successfully rcsolvcd prcccdcnts
to current problems . itlld ncvcr hcsitatcs to borrow a tool instcacl of buying it. At any given Vduntccrs, C0nsultaIlts i~lltl nlcnihcrs Of other time his orgilIliz;IlioIl inclidcs iItljllIKlS. tlq~;irtnicnts whose co~iinion clc‘noiiiitiator is cxpcrtisc ri~tllcr than the same cxpcnsccorlc. f Ic has the garage ci~tre~~reIicL~r’s iibility to illtcr~li~it~itc restfurccs iltld results instead of the btlrcitticr~\t’S IYCiIlCitr~IIlt irisistcncc 011 Al of 0nC tlcfmz dclivcring some of the other.
4. lie product
ktwt:s u*lurt lo be r~~sp~~ti.sil~l~~ Jbr. ‘I’hc mature or scrvicc from cvcrything clsc which surrounds
manager scparatcs providing a it: hc dots the job now and deals
with the accounting:, for csamplc, later. He errs on the side of results and has lcarncd that it is casicr to ask for forgivoncss than permission in taking on kgnmcnts which arc ncccssary hut c0tltri)vcrsiiIl or LlnClCi~r ;IS t0 ~~rgi~niZilti~~Ilill responsibility. HC finds himscll looking for rCiLSOI1Sto itcccpt
rather
than
rcjcct
new initiatives
itlltl
cliscrctionary assign-
mcnts which cctulci bc cschcwcd or rcfcrrcd. 5. Ile S(I):\’‘I tlorr’~ r~rrtkrsrtrutl’~vlret~ he rloestl’t. Growth is the incluctablc prcccdcnt to maturity: the mature ~~~i~~~i~~crachicvcs it by accelerating thccyclc. When the fact is that hc: clocsn’t know sctmcthing. hc doesn’t prcscrvc the appcarancc that hc dots, for that would frustrate his growth. ‘I don’t understand aIS<> disarn~s iIn awful lot of ‘issucs’whoso wouldbc protagonists arc then forced to explain and cannot! Whatcvcr momentary disadvantage ‘I don’t untlcrst;lnd’ puts its speaker at is more than offset by the long-term incrcmcnt in information and credibility it brings about.
173
Viewpoint
6. The mature manager
is larger than immediate
events. He understands that long-term
success depends on working effectively with other people since relationships outlive today’s projects or controversies. This means that he works to resolve issues. not win or lose them.
He sticks
to the facts and works
to achieve progress
without
indicting
personalities. Maturity in this context recognizes that criticizing constructively and sharing credit are ultimately higher priorities than the exigencies surrounding any particular initiative. 7. He pursues success on the right issues. The mature manager competes only when he has a competitve advantage. He goes to bat selectively enough that his purpose cannot be mistaken when he does. Above all, the scale of his actions is always appropriate to the desired outcome: stated differently. he never uses a tank when a fly swatter will do the job. He distinguishes between races which must be won and those which must simply be finished, hence he is energized and ready when the former appear.
8. He undcrstancis the nature nntl timing of risk. Risk in this context denotes a point on a continuum rather than a condition to be avoided; it is a corollary of return in a world of imperfect information. The mature manager knows when to take risks, and typically ‘signs up’ at the point that he is more confident than not about the outcome. Waiting
for better
data could compromise an opportunity. so hc errs on the side of getting into a project and working through or perfecting it as more is known. He has dcvclopcd a healthy attitude about failure which enables quick recovery when progress toward a goal inactivity has truly negative
co~~sccl~~C~~c~s
is frustraktl.
Only
in his book.
9. //(a is rcwtfy. Maturity in mana~cment is charactcrizcd by iI predisposition to lind . reasons lo do things rilthcr than reasons not to. The mature m;ln;lger is the one pe~plc go to when it is not clear where to go. I IC doesn’t rely 011 luck; OII the other hi\ntl, he is rcatly to scizc illlll capitalize LlpOtl it Wllcll it COIllCS illOllg. AIltl when tlC is ITiltly illld ttlC organization
is not, hc finds himself
enthusiasm becoming
al~sdut~ly
stirring
CoIltilgi<>lIS
IO. I/e innovrrres relentfessf_y. Innovation
the pot to create new opportunities, to
his
cveryonc around him.
and change are as natural to the truly mature
manager as rest or play. His rcstlcssness gets translated into new ways of thinking antI doing things; ten years of experience is ncvcr one year repeated ten times for him. He is not reckless or unethical, but he does specialize in breaking the rules when important results arc elusive. Most important. he brings about innovation and change before he has to. which makes them all the more visible and effective as hc dots. Peter Drucker has insightfully defined management as ‘responsibility for contribution’. If that is the case, then the mature manager is the one who contributes consistently. Dealing with new challenges has become as autonomic
;IS
voluntary for him, and he ~IoCS
SO
with an acuity which accrues from repeatedly facing reality and seeing it as it is. In the final analysis, maturity will be as inevitable for some managers as it is unattainable for others. It is none the less certain for evcryonc that maturity in nlanagemcnt is often created by events and processes which few managers woultl voluntarily sign up for. And mature managers will SL’C no contradiction in that statcmcnt!
171
Airlines, and the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Denver. Based on field work by executives from Embassy Suites and American Airlines, these companies and the School of HRM recently hosted a Japanese executive working for the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. This individual delivered several seminars on Japanese service expectations to management and staff of Embassy Suites and American Airlines and faculty and students from the University of Denver. The focus of these seminars was cross-cultural awareness and development of operating policies to utilize this knowledge and accommodate the needs of the Japanese guest. Individual properties (e.g. the New York Hilton for example) have had or have similar programs, but little to nothing is being developed on a broad or chainwide scale. These particular seminars were focused on the Japanese visitor, but the same principles would apply regardless of the ethnic or cultural segment an organization targets. The bottom line in this discussion is that the globalization of the hospitality industry and the desire of American companies to attract international visitors will require an effort by both the public and the private sector to familiarize agencies and organizations with the cultures of the countries they wish to do business with, and therefore impact the economic stability of their region. The active Asian market and the recent occurrences in Eastern Europe will make cross-cultural training a buzz word for the nineties. The lack of awareness of these problems is not solely an American one, but it would be unfortunate if the ‘ugly American’ image was transferred from the American traveler to the American host due to a lack of initiative and action by the American travel industry. Instead it would be desirable to get rid of the ‘ugly American’ image altogether, for both travelers and hosts.
Maturity in management: David
some guideposts
H. Freed
Hahnemann University, Broad t.3 Vine, Philadelphia, PA 19102-l 192, U.S.A.
Contemporary management literature is replete with prescriptions for instant success. Even the titles of best-selling volumes such as ‘The One Minute Manager’ suggest a certain simplicity about the profession of management which is naive. Management is more than a cookbook chemistry, color-by-numbers activity which one ‘does’. It just as fundamentally characterizes who a manager is and what he knows. These essentials are at the essence of what is referred to in other contexts as maturity. Maturity in management is difficult to prescribe but relatively simple to recognize when one comes across it. There are individuals in every organization whose stature and following arc disproportionate to their formal title: this difference is explained by maturity. Since maturity accrues through time and cxpcrience rather than being initiated directly, there is no
Viewpoint
172
more benefit in admonishing ‘how to’ become mature than in ‘how to’ become, for example, intelligent or insightful. These are labels which describe a destination rather than the points along the way, and there are many routes to the same endpoint. The remainder of this article presents an informal inventory of ten common attributes of the mature manager so the reader will recognize them when he comes across them. 1. When Ire’s tkre. responsible
for a given
In either
case.
and
Ita’s responsible. success
without
or failure; respect
Sometimes other
times
to whether
the
the mature
manager
he was just there outcome
assumes full responsiblity on behalf of the organization, on their inquiry being pursued to completion regardless
when
was favorable
is directly it happened. or not.
he
People dealing with him can count of whether
it falls into his ‘area’ or
not. 2. He sof~~s pro~~~~~~~s, hr &wm’t &scribe i~~~?r~~. The mature
manager
never
transmits
a
message from point A to point B with its fidelity unaltorcd. Hc adds enough value to either arrest the problem completely or reduce its dimensions before passing it to the appropriate party for resolution. The mature charactcrizcs rather than addresses
manager abhors ‘documentation’ issues, f-k cot1tin~i~~usly examines
to assure that they
and contain
Ci~tions
3.
fit*
tloc:srr’r
inrrcmcntal rcsearchcs
IrfrI7
ill%
lo oIV!I
action-oricntcd
ir moI~rcc
lo
fIsP
a positive
it. Dt!diGltCd
since that typically his own communioutcome
rcsourccs.
pilrticularly
ones, arc the IlliltllrC manager’s last resort rather than his first one. f fc both his 0wII ~~r~ilili~i~ti~)l~ and outside ftncs for successfully rcsolvcd prcccdcnts
to current problems . itlld ncvcr hcsitatcs to borrow a tool instcacl of buying it. At any given Vduntccrs, C0nsultaIlts i~lltl nlcnihcrs Of other time his orgilIliz;IlioIl inclidcs iItljllIKlS. tlq~;irtnicnts whose co~iinion clc‘noiiiitiator is cxpcrtisc ri~tllcr than the same cxpcnsccorlc. f Ic has the garage ci~tre~~reIicL~r’s iibility to illtcr~li~it~itc restfurccs iltld results instead of the btlrcitticr~\t’S IYCiIlCitr~IIlt irisistcncc 011 Al of 0nC tlcfmz dclivcring some of the other.
4. lie product
ktwt:s u*lurt lo be r~~sp~~ti.sil~l~~ Jbr. ‘I’hc mature or scrvicc from cvcrything clsc which surrounds
manager scparatcs providing a it: hc dots the job now and deals
with the accounting:, for csamplc, later. He errs on the side of results and has lcarncd that it is casicr to ask for forgivoncss than permission in taking on kgnmcnts which arc ncccssary hut c0tltri)vcrsiiIl or LlnClCi~r ;IS t0 ~~rgi~niZilti~~Ilill responsibility. HC finds himscll looking for rCiLSOI1Sto itcccpt
rather
than
rcjcct
new initiatives
itlltl
cliscrctionary assign-
mcnts which cctulci bc cschcwcd or rcfcrrcd. 5. Ile S(I):\’‘I tlorr’~ r~rrtkrsrtrutl’~vlret~ he rloestl’t. Growth is the incluctablc prcccdcnt to maturity: the mature ~~~i~~~i~~crachicvcs it by accelerating thccyclc. When the fact is that hc: clocsn’t know sctmcthing. hc doesn’t prcscrvc the appcarancc that hc dots, for that would frustrate his growth. ‘I don’t understand aIS<> disarn~s iIn awful lot of ‘issucs’whoso wouldbc protagonists arc then forced to explain and cannot! Whatcvcr momentary disadvantage ‘I don’t untlcrst;lnd’ puts its speaker at is more than offset by the long-term incrcmcnt in information and credibility it brings about.
173
Viewpoint
6. The mature manager
is larger than immediate
events. He understands that long-term
success depends on working effectively with other people since relationships outlive today’s projects or controversies. This means that he works to resolve issues. not win or lose them.
He sticks
to the facts and works
to achieve progress
without
indicting
personalities. Maturity in this context recognizes that criticizing constructively and sharing credit are ultimately higher priorities than the exigencies surrounding any particular initiative. 7. He pursues success on the right issues. The mature manager competes only when he has a competitve advantage. He goes to bat selectively enough that his purpose cannot be mistaken when he does. Above all, the scale of his actions is always appropriate to the desired outcome: stated differently. he never uses a tank when a fly swatter will do the job. He distinguishes between races which must be won and those which must simply be finished, hence he is energized and ready when the former appear.
8. He undcrstancis the nature nntl timing of risk. Risk in this context denotes a point on a continuum rather than a condition to be avoided; it is a corollary of return in a world of imperfect information. The mature manager knows when to take risks, and typically ‘signs up’ at the point that he is more confident than not about the outcome. Waiting
for better
data could compromise an opportunity. so hc errs on the side of getting into a project and working through or perfecting it as more is known. He has dcvclopcd a healthy attitude about failure which enables quick recovery when progress toward a goal inactivity has truly negative
co~~sccl~~C~~c~s
is frustraktl.
Only
in his book.
9. //(a is rcwtfy. Maturity in mana~cment is charactcrizcd by iI predisposition to lind . reasons lo do things rilthcr than reasons not to. The mature m;ln;lger is the one pe~plc go to when it is not clear where to go. I IC doesn’t rely 011 luck; OII the other hi\ntl, he is rcatly to scizc illlll capitalize LlpOtl it Wllcll it COIllCS illOllg. AIltl when tlC is ITiltly illld ttlC organization
is not, hc finds himself
enthusiasm becoming
al~sdut~ly
stirring
CoIltilgi<>lIS
IO. I/e innovrrres relentfessf_y. Innovation
the pot to create new opportunities, to
his
cveryonc around him.
and change are as natural to the truly mature
manager as rest or play. His rcstlcssness gets translated into new ways of thinking antI doing things; ten years of experience is ncvcr one year repeated ten times for him. He is not reckless or unethical, but he does specialize in breaking the rules when important results arc elusive. Most important. he brings about innovation and change before he has to. which makes them all the more visible and effective as hc dots. Peter Drucker has insightfully defined management as ‘responsibility for contribution’. If that is the case, then the mature manager is the one who contributes consistently. Dealing with new challenges has become as autonomic
;IS
voluntary for him, and he ~IoCS
SO
with an acuity which accrues from repeatedly facing reality and seeing it as it is. In the final analysis, maturity will be as inevitable for some managers as it is unattainable for others. It is none the less certain for evcryonc that maturity in nlanagemcnt is often created by events and processes which few managers woultl voluntarily sign up for. And mature managers will SL’C no contradiction in that statcmcnt!