What you should do--and read--if you're in management and can't get an MBA.

Most people in management don't know very much about managing.

The simple fact is that most individuals who are paid to oversee other people and operations in a business enterprise don't know very much about the ways business--at least at the start of their careers as a manager.  It's safe to say that most have never taken a "business" course in college; only a few have passed a course in personal finance; some haven't set foot on the campus of an institution of higher learning.  All of this raises the question of how good can management be these days when there's so little to commend an appreciation of what people know about the affairs of being charged with being "in charge."

Why expect non-managers to be necessarily good at being managers?

The simple truth is that most individuals who "manage" in large and small organizations usually arrive at a career destination of "manager" as a result of some other competency or professional attribute--they were good at something other than managing, per se, so the decision was made that they might reasonally be expected to be good managers, given the chance.  Indeed, American corporations hire more non-business college graduates to manage their people and operations--not because they prefer this kind of graduate, but because there aren't enough of the other to fill all the managerial positions there are!  

An MBA helps a lot, but most people aren't going to go to all that trouble.

So the immediate question becomes this:  what can be done to remedy the problem of so little management expertise in a world much in need of it?  Exactly three weeks ago I participated in the send-off of a class of bright-but-young MBAs into the world commerce; just yesterday I played a part in inducting a new wave of bright-but-young MBA students, with more to come who will start their studies this fall--all to become, I have little doubt, as successful as they want to be in the world of people and commerce.  But, the important issue is, what's to be done for all those people who don't have the time, the money, or the inclination to go back to school of become MBA-degreed graduates?  

At the moment, at least, I don't have a grand plan, but I do have a good recommendation as to what's possible.  Being a good manager of people or things is not necessarily easy, but it's not rocket science either!  After all, there's little here we're talking about in the way or life-and-death circumstances to be "managed." But there is an important part for mangers to play in our system of free enterprise and in coordinating the work-skills and fostering the professional lives of literally millions of good people.  

If you don't want to get an MBA, here's a place to start.

My recommendation is this.  Everyone who's charged with organizational responsibilities--overseeing people, things, money--but who's had little-to-none in the way of formal business education should commit him or herself to growing to become a better manager by learning more about what it means to be thoughtful and knowledgeable about the ways of managing.  Libraries are full of books on the topic; between Barnes & Noble and Amazon you can buy a copy of almost any of them you choose.  Start with any topic you're in particular need to master--strategy, people, finances, ethics, or managing yourself as the manager--and begin to whittle away at what you don't but need to know.  

Recently I ran across a new title which--if you're looking for a good place to start--is a perfect compendium for the serious manager:  The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Management, Lasting Lessons from the Best Leadership Minds of our Time, by Alan Murray [no relation to me].  His book is simply a terrific place to start if you want to be better at managing--or help someone you manage be a better at what you pay them to do for you!  All the issues managers should be paying attention to are there:  leadership, motivation, people, strategy execution, teams change financial literacy, ethics, going global, managing yourself.  

You can't get out of the tests--you can only get prepared.

And here's the best part of my plan:  it's cheaper than an MBA and there are no tests--that is, if you don't count the "tests" in real-life managing you can't get out of, no matter what you do or read!  If you think about it that way, there's a "test" for managers in "real-life" almost everyday--so the sooner one begins, the earlier one starts to get better marks on those real-world tests that count the most...and you can't get out of if your a manager!  
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Comments

[Stacey Hughes]

Thanks Keith! If only it were appropriate to give this book as a gift to my current boss! He has advanced into management after being a successful salesperson - as you mentioned above, good at something other than managing and it was reasonable to assume he would be good at managing. Unfortunately, it is a very different skill set required!

Any suggestions on how to make your manager better?
Stacey