A Good Manager Has At Least 10 Good Qualities by Bill Gates

A good manager has at least 10 good qualities

RECENTLY I wrote about 10 qualities of a good employee, which prompted quite a few people to ask about the attributes of a good manager.

There isn't a magic formula for good management, of course, but if you're a manager, perhaps these tips will help you be more effective:

1 Choose a field thoughtfully. Make it one you enjoy. It's hard to be productive without enthusiasm. This is true whether you're a manager or employee;

2 Hire carefully and be willing to fire. You need a strong team, because a mediocre team gives mediocre results, no matter how well managed it is. One mistake is holding on to somebody who doesn't measure up. It's easy to keep this person on the job because he's not terrible at what he does. But a good manager will replace him or move him to where he can succeed unambiguously;

3 Create a productive environment. This is a particular challenge because it requires different approaches depending on the context. Sometimes you maximise productivity by giving everybody his or her own office. Sometimes you achieve it by moving everybody into open space. Sometimes you use financial incentives to stimulate productivity. A combination of approaches is usually required. One element that almost always increases productivity is providing an information system that empowers employees.

When I was building Microsoft, I set out to create an environment where software developers could thrive. I wanted a company where engineers liked to work. I wanted to create a culture that encouraged them to work together, share ideas and remain motivated. If I hadn't been a software engineer myself, there's no way I could have achieved my goal;

4 Define success. Make it clear to your employees what constitutes success and how they should measure their achievements. Goals must be realistic. Project schedules, for example, must be set by the people who do the work. People will accept a "bottoms-up" deadline they helped set, but they'll be cynical about a schedule imposed from the top that doesn't map to reality. Unachievable goals undermine an organisation. At my company, in addition to regular team meetings and one-on-one sessions between managers and employees, we use mass gatherings periodically and E-mail routinely to communicate what we expect from employees. If a reviewer or customer chooses another company's product, we analyse the situation. We say to our people, "The next time around we've got to win. What's needed?" The answers to these questions help us define success;

5 To be a good manager, you have to like people and be good at communicating. This is hard to fake. If you don't enjoy interacting with people, it'll be hard to manage them well. You must have a wide range of personal contacts within your organisation. You need relationships - not necessarily personal friendships - with a fair number of people, including your own employees. You must encourage these people to tell you what's going on and give you feedback about what people are thinking about the company and your role in it;

6 Develop your people to do their jobs better than you can. Transfer your skills to them. This is an exciting goal, but it can be threatening to a manager who worries that he's training his replacement. If you're concerned, ask your boss: "If I develop somebody who can do my job super well, does the company have some other challenge for me or not?" Many smart managers like to see their employees increase their responsibilities because it frees the managers to tackle new or undone tasks. There's no shortage of jobs for good managers. The world has an infinite amount of work to be done;

7 Build morale. Make it clear there's plenty of goodwill to go around and that it's not just you or some hotshot manager who's going to look good if things go well. Give people a sense of the importance of what they're working on - its importance to the company, its importance to customers;

8 Take on projects yourself. You need to do more than communicate. The last thing people want is a boss who just doles out stuff. From time to time, prove you can be hands-on by taking on one of the less attractive tasks and using it as an example of how your employees should meet challenges;

9 Don't make the same decision twice. Spend the time and thought to make a solid decision the first time so that you don't revisit the issue unnecessarily. If you're too willing to reopen issues, it interferes not only with your execution but also with your motivation to make a decision in the first place. People hate indecisive leadership; However, that doesn't mean you have to decide everything the moment it comes to your attention. Nor that you can't ever reconsider a decision.

10 Let people know whom to please. Maybe it's you, maybe it's your boss, and maybe it's somebody who works for you. You're in trouble and risking paralysis in your organisation when employees start saying to themselves: "Am I supposed to be making this person happy or this other person happy? They seem to have different priorities."

I don't pretend that these are the only 10 approaches a manager should keep in mind. There are lots of others. Just a month ago I encouraged leaders to demand bad news before good news from their employees. But these 10 ideas may help you manage well, and I hope they do.

# If you have any questions you would like Bill Gates to answer you can send them to askbill@microsoft.com

Gates, Bill. "A Good Manager Has At Least 10 Good Qualities." Business Week. 6 Dec. 2007 .

Five Years of Facebook: A Retrospective

David Coursey

Wednesday, February 04, 2009 5:11 PM PST

Courtesy:PCWORLD.com

It doesn't seem like five years since Facebook appeared on the scene. I was slow to join the throng--my friends list numbers only 242 of the 110 million people who have joined the site since its inception.

Facebook is less juvenile in look-and-feel than MySpace, which it has overtaken in popularity. It is also a lot cleaner, again in look-and-feel but also in content. It also lacks the sexual content that plagues MySpace.

Facebook is more generalist in approach than some other social networking sites, such as Linked-In, which seem aimed at people looking for jobs and customers instead of communicating with people they already know. If you want to exploit your friends, Linked-In seems an excellent place to do it. And they'll exploit you in return.

Practical Social Networking
While I am not wild about social networking sites generally, as they can easily become colossal sinkholes for time, I've come to like Facebook a great deal and even consider it an important business tool.

How so?

Whole books have been written about promoting your company and its products on social networking sites. I won't wade into that swamp, though I think you have to be very creative to succeed. I also wonder how possible it is to niche market on Facebook the way search-oriented advertising can target an audience on Google.

To me, Facebook is a less personal medium than instant messaging, but more personal than email. I keep two or three IM clients continually open on my desktop. They are how family, closest friends, and a few business contacts reach me. I use a limited amount of SMS for the same purpose.

I don't keep Facebook open all the time. I check-in maybe a few times a day, but have sometimes gone away for days. I receive occasional email alerts and have the Facebook client on my iPhone, just in case I need it while mobile.

My main purpose for Facebook is keeping up with what a more distant set of friends is doing. These are people with whom I share common interests and like to know what they are doing.

You don't get on someone's friend list without their permission, so people are willing to share information they wouldn't post in a truly public space. Posting on Facebook also means you don't have to say the same thing to a bunch of different people just to get the word around.

Hive Mind
I've found that posting on Facebook is a good way to ask a question of a diverse set of people. This includes everyone from my first "real" girlfriend (who recently added me) to people I have worked with over the past 25 years, a few family members, and quite a few business friends around the industry. All are people I actually like, but with whom I otherwise don't stay in direct contact.

Facebook allows users to post clippings, thoughts, business ideas, and other bits and pieces of our lives for all our friends to see. In a business context, Facebook often reminds me of people who can answer questions, point me to someone they know (but I don't), or whom I'd just like to stay in front of.

It's also a good place to gather opinions and even hold fairly spirited debates. My friend, Mark Kellner, who writes a technology column for the Washington Times, is a frequent, friendly adversary.

I find myself liking Facebook far more than I ever wanted to. It helps me stay in touch with interesting people and share information with them. The contact that started my participation in this blog took place on Facebook when my now-editor posted a note saying he was looking for bloggers.

It concerns me that Facebook has yet to find a revenue model that seems likely to secure its future. It's currently riding a wave of popularity--and usefulness--but that could change as peoples' interests move elsewhere.

But, for now, if you are not already using Facebook, I'd recommend it. Bring some friends and business contacts along with you and it's possible to greatly expand the circle of people with whom you can easily stay in touch. And, for many of us, "in-touch" is a key business attribute.

David Coursey has been writing about technology for much longer than he likes to admit. If you want to be his friend on Facebook, he'll probably add you if you mention this blog.

10 Ways to Empower Your Communication

10 Ways to Empower Your Communication
by Nicholas Tan

The Blarney Stone is a historical stone, or actually part of the Blarney Castle in Ireland where it was believed that kissing the stone can grant you the gift of gab. Yeah, it seems strange in this day and age, but who are we to question tradition? It's not like I'm saying that Santa Claus doesn't exist (OOPS!).

There is so much to know about conversation that anyone, even I, could ever realize. You can go though watching talk shows; radio programs; clubs dedicated to public speaking; ordinary conversations; certain rules still apply when it comes to interaction through words. It may sound tedious, I know, but even though it's your mouth that's doing the work, your brain works twice as hard to churn out a lot of things you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communication is to know the very person closest to you: yourself.

1. What you know.
Education is all about learning the basics, but to be an effective speaker is to practice what you've learned. My stint as guest at every Toastmasters' meeting I go to taught me that we all have our limitations, but that doesn't mean we can't learn to keep up and share what we know.

2. Listening.
It's just as important as asking questions. Sometimes listening to the sound of our own voice can teach us to be a little bit confident with ourselves and to say the things we believe in with conviction.

3. Humility
We all make mistakes, and sometimes we tend to slur our words, stutter, and probably mispronounce certain words even though we know what it means, but rarely use it only to impress listeners. So in a group, don't be afraid to ask if you're saying the right word properly and if they're unsure about it then make a joke out of it. I promise you it'll make everyone laugh and you can get away with it as well.

4. Eye Contact
There's a lot to say when it comes to directing your attention to your audience with an eye-catching gaze. It's important that you keep your focus when talking to a large group in a meeting or a gathering, even though he or she may be gorgeous.

5. Kidding around
A little bit of humor can do wonders to lift the tension, or worse boredom when making your speech. That way, you'll get the attention of the majority of the crowd and they'll feel that you're just as approachable, and as human to those who listen.

6. Be like the rest of them
Interaction is all about mingling with other people. You'll get a lot of ideas, as well as knowing what people make them as they are.

7. Me, Myself, and I
Admit it, there are times you sing to yourself in the shower. I know I do! Listening to the sound of your own voice while you practice your speech in front of a mirror can help correct the stress areas of your pitch. And while you're at it you can spruce up as well.

8. With a smile
A smile says it all much like eye contact. There's no point on grimacing or frowning in a meeting or a gathering, unless it's a wake. You can better express what you're saying when you smile.

9. A Role Model
There must be at least one or two people in your life you have listened to when they're at a public gathering or maybe at church. Sure they read their lines, but taking a mental note of how they emphasize what they say can help you once you take center stage.

10. Preparation
Make the best out of preparation rather than just scribbling notes and often in a hurried panic. Some people like to write things down on index cards, while other resort to being a little more silly as they look at their notes written on the palm of their hand (not for clammy hands, please). Just be comfortable with what you know since you enjoy your work.

And that about wraps it up. These suggestions are rather amateurish in edgewise, but I've learned to empower myself when it comes to public or private speaking and it never hurts to be with people to listen how they make conversations and meetings far more enjoyable as well as educational.

Author's Bio
Nicholas Tan has been involved in Article Writing, providing Free Articles, Internet Marketing, SEO, Adwords, & Adsense for more than 5 years and designs and develops websites. Submit your free articles and get your articles noticed! Get your Free Articles here! Submit Articles! We provide free articles and information. Check us out at Free Articles!

The Power of Active Listening

The Power of Active Listening
by Justin Sachs

The most important, life-changing practice that completely changed my outlook on life is in learning the process of active listening. You see, the greatest listeners in the world are the greatest achievers.

Great, Active-Listeners have the following qualities:

1. They summarize what the other person says
2. They paraphrase in their own words what they thought was said.
3. They give the speaker their full attention
4. They create a positive atmosphere by being alert, using eye-contact, and being aware of their own nonverbal behavior.
5. They occupy the “I’m okay-- you’re okay” position
6. They have a spirit of cooperation.
7. They allow the speaker to bounce ideas and feelings off them.
8. They listen to the other person without being judgmental or critical.
9. They are aware of their “hot buttons” and “buzz words,” and they avoid over-reacting to them.
10. They dont give advice, but they make it easier for the person to solve his or her own problems.
11. They serve as a resource person, not a rescuer.

Author's Bio
Justin Sachs, author of Your Mailbox Is Full a book which gives teenagers the life-skills and leadership development principles they need to be successful in school and throughout their lives. His products, coaching and speaking services are available on his website at JustinSachsOnline.com.

Four Barriers To Effective Communication

Four Barriers To Effective Communication
by Timothy I. Thomas

Why does communication so often go wrong? Here are the top four reasons for breakdowns in communication:

1. Poor Listening Skills. Poor listening skills top the list when it comes to barriers to communication. Poor listening skills can result from:

* Lack of involvement with the other person or the topic at hand: you just don't care enough to listen.

* Distractions in the environment such as excessive noise or activity.

* Disagreement with the speaker, resulting in mentally "shutting off" the other person.

* Passive listening rather than active involvement with the speaker.

2. Assumptions. There are many assumptions we make while communicating with others. For instance, you might think that you know what the other person is going to say, so you simply "leave" the conversation.

3. Non-Verbal Signals. One recent study showed that only 7% of our communicating is tied to what we actually say! A full 55% of communication happens through non-verbal signals, and another 38% is based on tonality. So if your non-verbal signals are contradicting what your mouth is saying, people are going to remember what you didn't say.

4. Improper Use of Questions. Many people believe that if they ask a multitude of questions, they are communicating well and connecting with the other person. This may or may not be the case! We must ask the right questions at the right time to get the information we need to communicate effectively. That means asking open-ended questions - questions that begin with who, what, when, why, where, and how. Open-ended questions help true discussion and understanding to take place.

© 2008 Timothy I. Thomas

You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. This article is not to be sold or included with anything that is sold.

Author's Bio
Timothy I. Thomas is the President and CEO of Makarios Consulting, LLC, a leadership development and business consulting firm. Makarios Consulting specializes in interactive training and one-on-one coaching in progressive organizations in order to equip and empower their leaders to maximize their own leadership skills and inspire others to accomplish extraordinary business results. Timothy Thomas is the author of Creating All-Star Performers: The Power of Effective Feedback, now available for immediate download at www.MakariosConsulting.com.