Almost every entrepreneur who establishes their own business is satisfied in their own mind, that they have the management skills necessary, to effectively manage and operate a growing business. Yet, in the common causes of business failure, poor management is usually rated in the top three or four most cited reasons, as to why so many start up businesses fail.
If more entrepreneurs understood the key skill set combinations that constitute "real" management skills and were also aware that it is relatively easy to acquire these particular skill sets, the rates of business failure would undoubtedly fall.
The Key Skill Sets that Constitute Management Skills
Basically, management skills can be divided into three skill sets as follows:
- Personal Management Skills,
- Leadership Skills, and
- Business Management Skills.
Each of these three skill sets are composed of many component parts, all of which need to be mastered, before an entrepreneur can claim to possess the management skills required to provide good business management to an enterprise.
Personal Management Skills
Personal management skills are, first and foremost, the foundation upon which the remaining key skill sets are built. The core components of personal management skills are:
- The ability to manage oneself and one's impact on others,
- The ability to quickly and effectively acquire and assimilate relevant knowledge,
- The ability to communicate ideas and influence outcomes,
- The ability to build and maintain successful relationships, and
- The ability to apply continuous learning principles to one's own professional development.
It is beholden on anyone involved in business and management to ensure they continually work on developing their personal management skills, as these skills underpin manager skills in the other areas of Leadership and Business Management.
Leadership Skills
Once an entrepreneur has developed reasonable competency in their personal management skills, they are positioned to move into leadership roles. The core components of leadership skills are:
- The ability to manage continuous improvement through innovation and necessary change,
- The ability to manage people and lift individual productivity to optimal levels,
- The ability to effectively and efficiently manage work allocation and work flows, and
- The ability to build teams and utilise them appropriately to achieve required outcomes.
Leadership skills require the understanding of what is required and the development of expertise over time, as the skills are deployed and refined, through the business management process.
Business Management Skills
Entrepreneurs who develop their personal management skills and also develop the abilities required for leadership roles, will round out their management skills once they master each of the core components of business management skills, which are;
- The ability to convey the compelling vision of the business with passion and clear commitment,
- The ability to develop strategic plans to support the business vision,
- The ability to direct and drive business development activities to maximise revenue,
- The ability to gather resources required and maximise the effective deployment thereof,
- The ability to develop sound knowledge management practices throughout the business, and
- The ability to understand all aspects of financial reporting and business accounting practices as they relate to the business.
Business management skills are often the weakness of entrepreneurs, especially those of relatively youthful years, and are the skills an entrepreneur really must develop if they are to give life and longevity to their vision.
Real Management Skills Deliver Effective People Management and Good Business Outcomes
Entrepreneurs who develop the real management skills as outlined above, will insulate their business from the poor management syndrome that derails many business start ups. If an entrepreneur can develop their personal management skills, their leadership skills, and their business management skills to equal levels of competence, they can then lay claim to possessing "real" management skills.
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