BMGT 485-week2

21st Century Leaders and Managers Require A Diverse Skillset to be E�ective

Managing Knowledge

Management Skills

Skill #1: Communication

References

Week 2: Skills for Effective Management

Lesson 1 of 4

Managing Knowledge

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. 

Peter Drucker

Finding a way

The twenty-�rst century has brought a unique set of challenges to the business leader.

Driven by the onslaught of technology, leading a business today forces leaders to change their

old skills to meet new challenges.  As early as 1956, Peter Drucker labeled the managers of

the 20th century as “knowledge workers.”  Referring to the people who collect and control

data as well as to those who are planners, product developers, programmers and researchers,

Drucker saw the worker of the future be people who manipulate information as opposed to

those who are concerned with the production of goods or services.  Davenport o�ers a more

modern de�nition of the term    

Knowledge workers have high degrees of expertise, education, or experience, and the primary purpose of their jobs involves the creation, distribution or application of knowledge.

Mindtools, 2017

Today, the purpose of the knowledge worker is to innovate by creating new ideas, as opposed

to implementation by managing existing processes. (“Managing Knowledge Workers”, 2017).

Shortly before his death in 2005, Drucker declared that the most important contribution that

management could make in the 21st century was to increase the “productivity of knowledge

workers” (Wartzman, 2014, para. 5). Today, in order to increase the productivity of workers

the e�ective manager requires a range of skills that fall into the following categories:   

Building good relationships both individually and in teams 

Planning and Organizing both long/short term projects

Decision making and problem-solving 

Motivating and empowering others

Communicating e�ectively with those nationally and cross borders

Lesson 2 of 4

Management Skills

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In the Fall of October 2018 James Manktelow founder and CEO of MindTools, and Julian

Birkinshaw Deputy Dean for Programs at London Business School, surveyed 15,242 managers

worldwide to identify the ten most critical competencies a manager needs to be successful

leading and managing in today and tomorrow’s workplace (Moss, 2018). They are listed

below in order of what respondents agreed on as most important. 

Note that while most of the skill categories encompass the traditional role of the

manager, a greater emphasis on traditional leadership traits like team building, long term

planning, empowerment (delegation) and relationship building are of greater importance

to the manager today. 

Build good relationships with people on all levels of the organization. (79.9%)1

Prioritizing tasks e�ectively for yourself and your team. (79.5%)2

Considering many factors in decision making and the ability to apply a formal

structure. (77.8%) 3

Knowing the key principles of good communication (77.7%)4

Understanding the needs of di�erent stakeholders and communicating with them

appropriately. (75.8%) 5

Bringing people together to solve problems. (75. %)6

Developing new ideas to solve customers’ problems.7

Cultivating relationships with customers. (73.6%)8

Building trust within your team. (73.3%)9

Using emotional intelligence (72.1%)10

This week and in the weeks to come the class will examine and

apply ten of the most important skills a manager can possess. The

particular skills chosen re�ect the categories noted above and the

survey of managers by Manktelow and Birkinshaw. 

Let's start o� by taking this short self-assessment regarding your

own management skills. this article about how management skills.

After you have completed the self-assessment please take some

time to read about what your score means about you regarding

where your strengths and areas for improvement lie as a manager.

Everyone has strengths and areas for improvement, so you will

want to be honest with yourself. Take the opportunity in this course to

work on your areas for improvement!

Lesson 3 of 4

Skill #1: Communication

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you

anywhere. ”

Lee Iacocca

“

Skill #1: Communicate well in multiple ways, modes and listen actively to those with whom you are communicating. 

In his quote above, Lee Iacocca points out that it is not enough to have great expertise,

money-saving formulas or the newest technological advances; if the manager cannot explain

them to others, they are rendered useless.

"Management is about getting things done by working with people," Manktelow says (Moss,

2018). You can do this only if you communicate e�ectively. This is where the 7 C's of

Communication—clear, concise, concrete, correctx2 (meaning both factually true and

audience-appropriate), coherent, complete, courteous—can help you get your message

through more clearly (Moss, 2018). Adding to the seven C’s is the idea of being able to

communicate well in various ways: presentations, public speaking, in all forms of written

modes, virtually and to a diverse population.   

The 7 Cs of Communication

Listening

Good communication skills also include good listening skills. Understanding how to listen

actively will enhance the impact of what you are attempting to communicate. Understanding

how others are interpreting your ideas can stop a lot of unnecessary talk or help to clarify

misunderstandings. In short, communication is not just what you have to say it is also about

how those receiving the communication understand the message you are attempting to

convey.

Barriers to Effective Listening

According to Forbes, there are six communication skills that will get you promoted. Click on the circles below to learn more about them.

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Good Posture and Body Language

Portray strength and con�dence in your body language as a leader.

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Sense of Humor

A sense of humor and being able to engage in casual conversation is important.

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Emotional Intelligence

It is important to have good listening skills, empathy, and good noverbal skills.

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Assertiveness

This is important for both men and women. Be con�dent but not confrontational.

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Excellent Public Speaking

Leaders should be able to speak well in front of any type of group and of any size group.

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Ability to Command a Room

It is important to be able to get people to stop and listen to you when you speak. It is also important to

be able to be con�dent in your presence.

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Tactics to Command a Room –

Read this article that talks about 9 tactics that leaders use to command a room, because a commanding presence in a leader is proven to enhance their power and in�uence in their leadership role. 

Improving Communication Skills –

As you have already learned here, communication is an essential part of leadership. Read this article to learn more about 14 proven ways to improve communication skills. 

Effective Listening –

Actively listening to those who are speaking to you is a trait that not all leaders have, but it is an important one. Read this article about 10 steps for e�ective listening

Effective Listening Video –

Watch this video on Barriers to E�ective Listening

Effective Listening Skills

SU BMI T

True or False: There are 2 types of "Correct" in the 7 C's of

Communication.

True

False

Lesson 4 of 4

References

Mindtools (2017).  Managing knowledge workers:  Getting the most from them.

 Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_45.htm  1

Moss, D. (2018, October 24). The Top 10 Management Skills You Need. Retrieved

from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/book-blog/pages/the-

top-10-management-skills-you-need.aspx

2

Wartzman, Rick, (2014, October 16).  What Peter Drucker knows about 2020.

 Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/10/what-peter-drucker-knew-about-2020 3