The manager as a person

1.

11-1
11
The Manager
as a Person
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

2. Personality Traits

11-2
Personality Traits
Personality Traits: Characteristics that influence how
people think, feel and behave on and off the job.
Include tendencies to be enthusiastic, demanding, easygoing, nervous, etc.
Each trait can be viewed on a continuum, from low to
high.
There is no “wrong” trait, but rather managers have a
complex mix of traits.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

3. The Big Five Traits:

11-3
The Big Five Traits:
Figure 11.1
I
Low
Extroversion
High
Low
Negative Affectivity
High
Low
Agreeableness
High
Low
Conscientiousness
High
Low
Openness to Experience
High
II
III
IV
V
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

4. The Big Five

11-4
The Big Five
Extroversion:
people are positive and feel good about
themselves and the world.
Managers high on this trait are sociable, friendly.
Negative Affectivity:
people experience negative
moods, are critical, and distressed.
Managers are often critical and feel angry with others
and themselves.
Agreeableness:
people like to get along with others.
Managers are likable, and care about others.
Conscientiousness:
people tend to be careful,
persevering.
Openness to Experience: people are original, with
broad interests.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

5. Traits and Managers

11-5
Traits and Managers
Successful managers vary widely on the “Big Five”.
It is important to understand these traits since it helps
explain a manager’s approach to planning, leading,
organizing, etc.
Internal Locus of Control: People believe they are
responsible for their fate.
Managers should also be aware of their own style and try
to tone down problem areas.
See their actions are important to achieving goals.
External Locus of Control: People believe outside
forces are responsible for their fate.
Their actions make little difference in achieving
outcomes.
Managers
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
need an Internal Locus of Control!
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

6. Other Traits

11-6
Other Traits
Self-Esteem: Captures the degree to which people
feel good about themselves and abilities.
High self-esteem causes people to feel they are
competent, and capable.
Low self-esteem people have poor opinions of
themselves and abilities.
Need for Achievement: extent to which people have
a desire to perform challenging tasks and meet
personal standards.
Need for Affiliation: the extent to which people
want to build interpersonal relationships and being
liked.
Need for Power: indexes the desire to control or
influence others.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

7. Values

11-7
Values
Values: describe what managers try to achieve through
work and how to behave.
These are personal convictions about life-long goals
(terminal values) and modes of conduct (instrumental
values).
A person’s value system reflects how important their
values are as a guiding principle in life.
Terminal values important to managers include:
Sense of Accomplishment, equality, self-respect.
Instrumental
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
values include:
hard-working, broadminded, capable.
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

8. Terminal and Instrumental Values

11-8
Terminal and Instrumental Values
Figure 11.3
TERMINAL VALUES
INSTRUMENTAL
VALUES
Prosperous life
Exciting life
Sense of Accomplishment
A world at peace
Salvation
Self-respect
Pleasure
Wisdom
True friendship
Equality
Ambitious
Broadminded
Capable
Cheerful
Clean
Helpful
Honest
Obedient
Loving
Responsible
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

9. Attitudes

11-9
Attitudes
Attitudes: collection of feelings about something.
Job Satisfaction: feelings about a worker’s job.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
Satisfaction tends to rise as manager moves up in the
organization.
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: actions not
required of managers but which help advance the firm.
Managers with high satisfaction perform these “extra
mile” tasks.
Organizational Commitment: beliefs held by people
toward the organization as a whole.
Committed managers are loyal and proud of the firm.
Commitment can differ around the world.
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

10. Moods

11-10
Moods
Moods: encompass how a manager feels while
managing.
Positive moods provide excitement, elation and
enthusiasm.
Negative moods lead to fear, stress, nervousness.
Moods can depend on a person's basic outlook as well as
on current situations.
Managers need to realize how they feel affects how they
treat others and how others respond to them.
Workers prefer to make suggestions to mangers who are
in “a good mood”.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

11. Perceptions

11-11
Perceptions
Perception is the process through which people select,
organize and interpret input.
Manager’s decisions are based on their perception.
Managers need to ensure perceptions are accurate.
Managers
are all different and so are their perceptions of
a situation.
Perceptions depend on satisfaction, moods, and so forth.
A manager’s past experience can influence their outlook
on a new project.
Good managers try not to prejudge new ideas based on
the past.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

12. Career Development

11-12
Career Development
Career: sum total of the work-related experiences
through a person’s life.
Linear career: person moves through a sequence of
jobs of higher levels.
Can build different experience in different positions.
Steady
State career: worker chooses to keep the same
kind of job over much of a career.
Become highly skilled in a given area.
Spiral
Career: worker holds fundamentally different
jobs that still build on each other.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
Worker gains wide experience yet skills continue to build.
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

13. Career Stages

11-13
Career Stages
Figure 11.7
Preparation
for Work
Organization
Entry
Early Midcareer
Midcareer
Late
Career
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

14. Career Stages:

11-14
Career Stages:
Preparation for Work: decide on kind of career,
determine qualifications needed.
Organizational entry: find a “first” job.
Managers usually start in a functional area first.
Early career: establishes person in the firm and begins
achievement.
Worker learns firm’s values and duties.
Also begins to achieve noteworthy results in the job.
Worker tries to stand out as a good performer.
Mentors
(experienced manager who shows you the
ropes) are valuable during this stage.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

15. Stages, cont.

11-15
Stages, cont.
Mid-career: usually have been in workforce 20-35 years.
Usually provides major accomplishments.
Career
plateaus can occur as chances for further
promotion dwindle.
Plateau managers can still enjoy a fruitful career.
Late career: continues as long as the manager works and
is active.
Many managers choose to stay active well past normal
retirement.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

16. Career Management

11-16
Career Management
Managers need to consider both personal career
management as well as the careers of other workers in
the firm.
Ethical practice: managers need to ensure worker
promotions are based on outcomes, not friendships.
This means all workers are treated equally.
Accommodation
of other demands: Workers have
many things in their lives besides work. Managers need
to consider these issues as well.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
The dual career couple is the norm.
Workers have family commitments.
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

17. Stress

11-17
Stress
Results when people face important opportunity or
threats they are uncertain can be handled.
Managers almost always face stress.
Physiological
issues: stress can result in sleep
problems, headaches, and other issues.
Long-term levels of stress can result in heart attack, and
high blood pressure.
Different people experience stress differently.
Psychological
issues: stress can result in bad moods,
anger, nervousness.
Can result in lower work output and frustration.
Behavioral
issues: stress can actually enhance job
performance as well as impair it.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

18. Stress & Performance

11-18
Stress & Performance
Figure 11.8
Level of
Performance
High
Low
Low
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
Positive Stress
Negative Stress High
Level of Stress
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

19. Sources of Stress

11-19
Sources of Stress
Role Conflict: results from conflict between
managerial roles.
Conflict can result when managers want to present a
problem with the firm but still want to present firm in
best possible light.
Role Overload: managers have too many duties and
activities.
Most managers have several roles but they can become
over-powering.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000

20. Coping with stress

11-20
Coping with stress
Problem-focused:
actions taken to directly deal with
stress.
Emotion-focused: actions taken to deal with stressful
feelings.
Time Management: allows people to accomplish more
with less wasted time.
Mentoring: mentor shows how to deal with stress.
Exercise: can reduce stressful feelings.
Meditation: puts current cares aside.
Social support: can come from family or other workers.
Irwin/McGraw-Hill
©The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000