THERE is probably no job in the organisation that is more                                                                                             
critical, more demanding and more challenging than the job of                                                                                         
the general manager.                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
Yet, the selection and development of the general manager is                                                                                          
often left to chance rather than to a deliberate and conscious                                                                                        
effort at positioning the best possible human resource to                                                                                             
handle a job which commands the centre point of an                                                                                                    
organisation's value-creating opportunities.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
There are two psychological career barriers in an                                                                                                     
organization.  One is the barrier between managers and                                                                                                
technical and other non- managerial staff. A promotion into                                                                                           
managerial ranks is always valued not only for the additional                                                                                         
pay and perks but for the recognition that the employee is                                                                                            
part of management.                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
The job changes and the newly promoted manager finds that his                                                                                         
performance is dependent not so much on what he does with his                                                                                         
hands as on what he can achieve working with subordinates.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
Technical work for which he had previously been trained has to                                                                                        
consciously be set aside to relearn how to plan, organise,                                                                                            
lead and control. Sometimes he is helped along his new job by                                                                                         
managerial training, sometimes he educates himself by reading,                                                                                        
asking and just watching what other managers do; most times he                                                                                        
learns by trial and error.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
If he has a supportive superior who is able to effectively                                                                                            
super- vise him, he is lucky; if his boss is less supportive,                                                                                         
his career can be stunted.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
The second psychological barrier is a promotion from                                                                                                  
functional management to the job of the general manager.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
In the case of a junior executive, poor performance can cause                                                                                         
some damage, but probably such dam- age may not have serious                                                                                          
consequences.                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
In the case of the general manager, however, the damage that                                                                                          
Can be caused as a result of poor performance can be enormous                                                                                         
if the wrong person with insufficient skills is put in command                                                                                        
of key operations of the organisation.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
In the case of the junior executive who is promoted from, say,                                                                                        
a salesman to sales manager, his world of sales continues. The                                                                                        
job may change, but he can still draw comfort from the                                                                                                
familiar and can fall back on the knowledge of his technical                                                                                          
world.                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
Unlike the junior executive, the general manager has very                                                                                             
little to fall back on. In fact, he should resist the                                                                                                 
temptation of going back to the world he has been so used to                                                                                          
in order to master the functional areas he has very little                                                                                            
knowledge of.                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Management is different from other professions. A doctor or                                                                                           
lawyer progresses his career through specialisation. In                                                                                               
management, a reversal takes place.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
The functional (or specialist) manager moves into general (or                                                                                         
non-specialist) management, but he has to have sufficient                                                                                             
knowledge and competence to imprint his own contribution of                                                                                           
coordinating and raising the overall performance of the                                                                                               
operations he is responsible for.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
The job of the general manager is no easy task. Take a typical                                                                                        
organisation.                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Its value chain could start with raw materials to be                                                                                                  
fabricated through operations like manufacturing into finished                                                                                        
products, which then have to find markets which lead to sales                                                                                         
and service.  Supporting the value chain are material, human                                                                                          
and financial resources.                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
The general manager's job is to seek total factor productivity                                                                                        
that will enable his organisation to compete effectively in                                                                                           
the industry.  His performance will be translated into higher                                                                                         
turnover, reduced costs, better quality find faster                                                                                                   
turnaround.                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
More specifically, there are four core areas in the job of the                                                                                        
general manager.                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
- The first is crafting strategy which includes defining and                                                                                          
shaping work culture. What are the targets for the next                                                                                               
period?                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
Synchronization between purchases, inventory and sales in the                                                                                         
appropriate product mix is important not only in a numbers                                                                                            
sense but also in matching the different inclinations and                                                                                             
expectations of different parts of the organization.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
For example, manufacturing has a distinct preference for batch                                                                                        
work while sales which compete in the market place often                                                                                              
demand that a wide variety of products is made available at                                                                                           
any one time.                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
. Sales associate performance with revenue generated while                                                                                            
finance is more concerned with collections. Executing strategy                                                                                        
is dependent on the subscription by every employee to a common                                                                                        
work culture of excellence.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
Targets are not only good on paper; they have to be applied as                                                                                        
the central yardsticks to measure and control performance. To                                                                                         
be meaningful, the standards of performance for employees have                                                                                        
to be ambitiously high but achievable, and related to issues                                                                                          
of revenue earned, cost savings made, quality attained and                                                                                            
timeliness obtained.                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
There is no clearer definition of management than that                                                                                                
describing the job of the general manager. His resource is the                                                                                        
people he has to work with. Developing his people and keeping                                                                                         
them fit, responsible and challenged is the primary tool of                                                                                           
his profession.                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
- The second core area of his job therefore, is to look after                                                                                         
subordinates in the context of providing sufficient training,                                                                                         
development and motivation for them to want to and be able to                                                                                         
achieve superior results.                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Management is not only getting work done through people but                                                                                           
also developing people through work.  Above all, the general                                                                                          
manager is a leader. He is in the centre of a network of                                                                                              
relationships.                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
-The third core area of his job, therefore, is to wire the                                                                                            
network of his subordinates into a cohesive and powerful team                                                                                         
as well as to massage the network of colleagues, superiors and                                                                                        
others to support his work.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
Inevitably he is often the counselor to office politics, but                                                                                          
some- times also its victim. As a professional, his response                                                                                          
is to demonstrate competency and not to be a player in office                                                                                         
politics to compensate for shortcomings.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
The job of the general manager is daily, hands-on and cannot                                                                                          
be easily delegated. Just watch the general manager of any                                                                                            
major hotel. He seems to be everywhere from receiving visitors                                                                                        
to making his presence felt in the F&B out- lets, rooms, media                                                                                    
and publicity, and in the recreation and services departments.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
- The fourth core area is to oversee daily operations, to                                                                                             
monitor and to control as necessary, to problem-solve if                                                                                              
necessary and to ensure successful implementation of actions                                                                                          
that will eventually lead to the fulfilment of the targets and                                                                                        
objectives of the organisation.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
Some commentators have likened the job of the general manager                                                                                         
to that of a conductor of an orchestra. He has to have a fine                                                                                         
ear for everything that happens and be in a position to make                                                                                          
sure that value creation is the outcome of his contribution.                                                                                          
But a conductor has to be trained to appreciate exactly how                                                                                           
each instrument con- tributes to music, when and how each                                                                                             
should be played, and he midst have the competence to command                                                                                         
the performance.                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
Unfortunately, in corporateĞlife, it is the best musician who                                                                                         
often gets promoted to be the conductor, and is oftentimes                                                                                            
left on his own.  And regrettably, empirical studies have                                                                                             
shown that the failure rate of newly-appointed general                                                                                                
managers is high.                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
The first step to getting good general managers is to get the                                                                                         
right person. Has he a set of values that can truly allow him                                                                                         
to flourish in the core areas of his job? Has he the                                                                                                  
confidence the drive and the emotional intelligence (EQ) to                                                                                           
handle the job?                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
The second and probably easier step is to develop him in                                                                                              
performing his job along the core areas of his work. Most                                                                                             
management development programmes move along functional lines.                                                                                        
They are appropriate in the development of functional                                                                                                 
specialists.                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
But for the general manager, such courses are useful only in                                                                                          
providing an understanding of the workings of different parts                                                                                         
of the organisation .                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                      
Much more crucial is the ability to transcend these functional                                                                                        
areas and to "decide what has to be done and to get others to                                                                                    
do it." How this can be achieved is the essence of good                                                                                          
management.