Management – art of controlling processes and outcomes

One of my preferred writers is Henry Mintzberg. On a personal note, because he argues in the favor of postgraduate programs for practicing managers and not for every graduate with no work experience.

He defines the managerial work as three sets of roles related to the formal authority:

Informational:

• Monitor – gathering information
• Disseminator – internal sharing of information
• Spokesperson – external sharing of information

Interpersonal:

• Figurehead – external representation
• Leader – internal representation
• Liaison – internal and external communication

Decisional:

• Entrepreneur – internal innovation and continuous improvement
• Disturbance handler – management of internal conflicts and resource allocation issues
• Resource allocation – decision on resources management
• Negotiator – external negotiation

If you are manager you should analyze what percentage of the above is part of your profile. Also take in consideration that Mintzberg has already defined eight configurations:

1. Contact manager – figurehead and liaison
2. Political manager – spokesperson and negotiator
3. Entrepreneur – entrepreneur and negotiator
4. Insider – resource allocator
5. Real-time manager – disturbance handler
6. Team manager – leader
7. Expert manager – monitor and spokesperson
8. New manager – liaison and monitor

“Management is, above all, a practice where art, science, and craft meet”

Henry Mintzberg

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