Function of Manager: Leading

4. Leading:

 Leading involves motivating, communicating, guiding, and encouraging. It requires the manager to coach, assist, and problem solve with employees.

 Leading generally refers to taking actions that direct and motivate employees to accomplish personal and organizational goals.

 Top executives, middle managers, and first-line supervisor help subordinates develop the skills, knowledge, materials, equipment, and time to perform their jobs. They offer guidance to subordinates about the best way to perform various job¬ related activities.

 Managers also evaluate their subordinates, and sometimes even peers and superiors, as part of their leadership responsibilities.

 What types of information do managers require in order to lead effectively? They first need a clear understanding of the organization's goals and of their responsibilities for accom¬plishing them. They also benefit by having information about their boss's needs and goals. Managers need data about the skills, abilities, knowledge, needs, and experience of subordi¬nates; they must also regularly secure information about their subordinates' performance. Managers must also have a comprehensive understanding of the situation to select the most appropriate leadership style for influencing workers to perform effectively. Researchers sug¬gest that they need information about workers' needs and maturity, the leader's relationship with the subordinates, the task's structure, the organization's structure, and the organization's environment.

 What information needs are inherent in the interpersonal roles required for leading? Man¬agers must know the nature of the tasks being performed, the expected standards of perfor¬mance, and the potential barriers to their accomplishment. They must also have detailed infor¬mation about the skills, experiences, and expectations of the workers they supervise. In addition, managers must have information about colleagues from whom they might gather information for the organization, listings of professional organizations, and data about col¬leagues employed by competitors. Effectively motivating and developing subordinates as well as influencing others and building relationships likely require extensive situation specific information that a manager should diagnose. Managers also should diagnose the information required to solve employee-related problems. Effectively leading a multicultural workforce creates both specific and generic information needs for managers functioning in the global arena.

5. Controlling: After the other elements are in place, a manager's job is not finished. He needs to continuously check results against goals and take any corrective actions necessary to make sure that his area's plans remain