If you owned a company, what would you look for in a manager?

Simply put, if I owned a company, then I would look for an effective leader in a manager. I would look for someone who has motivation and the self-confidence required to achieving goals that the company would set out for him. This is so that even when the company is going through a tough phase, the inner drive in the manager to achieve the goals set out to him will overcome the difficulty. He will also be able to channel positive energy to his followers / co workers (Murphy, 2002). For the manager to excel in his job, it is absolutely pivotal for the people working under or around him, to be able to trust him. Since leadership is a two way street, a leader can only be effective if he has the support of his followers (Meindl, 1990). Hence, he should be honest and his integrity should never be in question when asked to tell the truth. For instance, I want a manager in the marketing sector of the company. I would expect the manager to have sufficient knowledge about economy and expertise in the marketing field. Another very important thing is that he needs to be creative. This is a very important factor that companies look for in their employees. If we expect the workers to be creative, then we obviously want the man in charge to be creative. This characteristic will take the company through rough patches. An effective leader is he who does the right thing in the right situation. He should objectively analyze the situation before acting upon, or making a decision. He should be able to change his behaviour according to the situation to get more work productivity. All the characteristics I have mentioned above are reminiscent of those listed by (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991). As much as 80% of a managers job involves communication (Mintzberg, 1973), hence it is essential for the manager to be an effective communicator. If he fails to get his points across, it will lead to a communication breakdown resulting in low work productivity. He should also be a good listener since effective listening is arguably a leaders most important skill (Harris, 1993). The manager should be both relationship and task oriented in order to be effective (Bass, 1990). They should be able to display their concern for both the task and the people. He should keep tabs on what the work group members are doing, and give them constructive feedback in order for them to improve and correct their errors (Komaki, 1986). He should also be able to delegate certain challenging and important tasks to followers, which will improve their work skills and also buy the manager time to work on other duties. (Riggio, 1990). Last but not least, the manager should give careful attention to decision making. He should be autocratic or consultative in his decision-making based on the situation he faces. 495 words. 7 citations .