Management Style Test Answers

1) Question: I need to keep my eye on my employees to ensure the job gets done.

  Answer: Disagree/No. Trusting your staff will help to build their respect for you.

2) Question: Incentives such as bonuses and prizes keep my employees motivated.

Answer: Disagree/No. These are only short-term measures and only act to instantly  

boost levels of motivation but this level of motivation is only short-lived.

3) Question: My employees’ personal problems won’t affect their ability to work.

Answer: Disagree/No. Countless business days are lost due to employees personal

Problems, being aware and able to identify potential problems can help the situation.

4) Question: I instinctively know when my employees are unhappy.

Answer: Disagree/No. Don’t rely on your instincts, instead ask your employees. It

is bound to eliminate guesswork and avoid other communication problems.

5) Question: I feel unable to praise my staff as I know it would stunt (lessen) their  

efforts.   

Answer: Disagree/No. Employee recognition is one of the greatest tools to boost

Employee motivation levels.

6) Question: I share an interest in the lives of my employees and whatever they feel is

important to them.

Answer: Agree/Yes. Employees will feel you value them as a person and not just as a

work unit.

7) Question: I am open to employee suggestions in the workplace, and willing to change

how things are done.  

Answer: Agree/Yes. This is a good way to help your employees feel as if they are a

part of your company.

8) Question: My employees are aware of the impact their work contributions have on my

company.

Answer: Agree/Yes. Your employees will feel valued and have a sense of belonging

your organization.

9) Question: There is no need to share the company’s progress and achievements with  

my employees.

Answer: Disagree/No. Your employees make a large contribute to the growth of your

Company and should be kept informed at all times.

10) Question: All employees should be encouraged to move towards a more demanding

  role.

Answer: Agree/Yes. Not all employees are against the idea of a challenge and should

at least be given the opportunity to progress in their careers.

Lesson 9: English Grammar Exercise

Suffixes

Suffixes are just as important as prefixes. Suffixes are added to the end of words and can also change the part of a speech a word represents in the English language. If you do not understand how a suffix impacts the meaning of a word it could lead to a business communications nightmare. This is why it is important to review the suffix chart below and review it often to make sure you know what each of the following suffixes mean.

Exercise A:Identify the part of speech for the underlined word based upon the chart above.

1) He was not satisfied with the results of his exam.

2) People rarely apply for jobs without resumes.

3) He had infuriated her with his words.

4) She is the Princess of Spain.

5) She slowly picked up her bags and walked away.

6) He has a very serious personality.

7) Her parents were proud of her for the accomplishmentsshe had made in life.

8) It was a logical solution to our problem.

9) She was capable of doing the work assigned to her.

10) She is a very thoughtfulperson.

Lesson 10

Leadership vs Management

Lesson Introduction

Leadership and Management

The idea of leadership and management are closely related but are not the same. A leader and a manager require different traits of character and different perspectives. These days it is far more common for companies to seek out the traits of character that exist within a leader. Leadership is becoming far more valued in the workplace than pure management. This is a result of a change in western business practices and perceptions. Due to a heavy investment in human resources, western companies are very focused upon their employees and have found that a leader interacts and motivates their employees much better than a person who is only able to manage and not lead. The ability to lead has become very valuable in the eyes of most companies. However, in the eyes of any company the ideal candidate for a job must possess both the qualities of a leader and the qualities of a manager. A person who lacks the ability to be a leader or a manager is at a serious disadvantage. Companies are now seeking out those who can be both leaders and managers. Such people are in high demand.

       Both a manager and a leader may know the business well. But the leader must know it better and in a different way. S/he must grasp the essential facts and the underlying forces that determine the past and present trends in the business, so that s/he can generate a vision and a strategy to bring about its future. One telling sign of a good leader is an honest attitude towards the facts, towards objective truth. A subjective leader obscures the facts for the sake of narrow self-interest, partisan interest or prejudice.

       Effective leaders continually ask questions, probing all levels of the organization for information, testing their own perceptions, and rechecking the facts. They talk to their constituents. They want to know what is working and what is not. They keep an open mind for serendipity to bring them the knowledge they need to know what is true. An important source of information for this sort of leader is knowledge of the failures and mistakes that are being made in their organization.

       To survive in the twenty-first century, we are going to need a new generation of leaders — leaders, not managers. The distinction is an important one. Leaders conquer the context — the turbulent, ambiguous surroundings that sometimes seem to conspire against us and will surely suffocate us if we let them — while managers surrender to it.

       Leaders investigate reality, taking in the pertinent factors and analyzing them carefully. On this basis they produce visions, concepts, plans, and programs. Managers adopt the truth from others and implement it without probing for the facts that reveal reality.

       There is profound difference — a chasm — between leaders and managers. A good manager does things right. A leader does the right things. Doing the right things implies a goal, a direction, an objective, a vision, a dream, a path, a reach.

       Lots of people spend their lives climbing a ladder — and then they get to the top of the wrong wall. Most losing organizations are over-managed and under-led. Their managers accomplish the wrong things beautifully and efficiently. They climb the wrong wall.

       Managing is about efficiency. Leading is about effectiveness. Managing is about how. Leading is about what and why. Management is about systems, controls, procedures, policies, and structure. Leadership is about trust — about people.

       Leadership is about innovating and initiating. Management is about copying, about managing the status quo. Leadership is creative, adaptive, and agile. Leadership looks at the horizon, not just the bottom line.

       Leaders base their vision, their appeal to others, and their integrity on reality, on the facts, on a careful estimate of the forces at play, and on the trends and contradictions. They develop the means for changing the original balance of forces so that their vision can be realized.

       A leader is someone who has the capacity to create a compelling vision that takes people to a new place, and to translate that vision into action. Leaders draw other people to them by enrolling them in their vision. What leaders do is inspire people, empower them.

       They pull rather than push. This "pull" style of leadership attracts and energizes people to enroll in a vision of the future. It motivates people by helping them identify with the task and the goal rather than by rewarding or punishing them.

       There is a profound difference between management and leadership, and both are important "To manage" means "to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct." "Leading" is "influencing, guiding in direction, course, action, opinion." The distinction is crucial.

Management is... Leadership is....

Coping with complexity Coping with and promoting change

Planning and Budgeting Setting a Direction

Organizing and Staffing Aligning People

Controlling and Problem Solving Motivating and Inspiring People

Effective Action Meaningful Action

*Both are necessary and important.

Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing. The difference may be summarized as activities of vision and judgment — effectiveness —versus activities of mastering routines — efficiency. The chart below indicates key words that further make the distinction between the two functions:

· The manager administers; the leader innovates.

· The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.

· The manager maintains; the leader develops.

· The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.

· The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.

· The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.

· The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

· The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

· The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon.

· The manager imitates; the leader originates.

· The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

· The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.

· The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

The most dramatic differences between leaders and managers are found at the extremes: poor leaders act like dictators, while poor managers are bureaucrats in the worst sense of the word. While leadership is a human process and management is a process of resource allocation, both have their place and managers must also perform as leaders. All first-class managers have quite a lot of leadership ability.