Marketing Development

Management Development II

A manager should, according to myself, among other things have knowledge, be understanding, be able to lissen, be internal motivated and be a leader. Not all managers are leaders. A manager is a title and you then have a certain place and status in the hierarchy of the organisation. Leadership on the other hand is more about human skills and personality. A leader is someone who can communicate and is able to motivate people. People lissens to a leader and then follow him. You donÒ't necessary have to be a manager to be a leader but is it good if you are a leader if you are a manager. A great manager should have good people skills so that they can lead and motivate their staff. They should be able to make their work team internal motivated to do their job and create loyalty toward the organisation. I think that a good manager understand their employees and are able to empathise with them both in and outside work. A manager should have visions, charisma and an helecopter view and also have good self-knowledge.

A good manager must understand their job and have good knowledge about their business and their industy. A manager should not only pay intention to the internal environment, the organisation, but also to their external environment. They must understand the costumer and find out what they want and what the expect from the product or service. They have to have knowledge about the market position, the financial strength and set goals for the future.

But then, do you have to be a man to be a good manager? Why are there still not hardly any woman with managerial positions? "Gender equality" has been an international focus during the past decades and there has been a raise in the awareness of this topic all over the world. It's still rare to find women in the keydecision making roles such as chief executives or presidents of the companies in the private sector. Is womenÒ's share in the top limited because of the unconscious tendency of men choosing other men, the fact that men has male network or is it culturell factors? There are proberly less barriers now than historically when women are reaching for the top positions in businesses. However, barriers still exist and are often rooted in the way work and life are organized. In most societies, men still have the main responsibility for meeting financial needs of a family while women carry a larger responsibility for care giving and family well-being. This means that the challenges for women in the world of work often revolve around balancing work and family commitments.

Despite the fact that the roles of men and women have changed over the years, the same stereotypes still exist. Stereotyping of genders and leaders has been around for ages and it is very hard to change people's perceptions and beliefs. Even though the way society perceives men and women has changed the last century, most people still prefer men as leaders. While the male leader is seen as a normative leader, a woman is supposed to fit the masculine attributes

I think that being married and having children can be seen as an asset for a male manager but can be seen as a disadvantage for a woman. The complications of family life, and responsibilities that childcare consist all play a big role in preventing women to go further along their career road. Culture plays an important role in forming a social problem. Cultural obstacles influence how women and men feel, think and what their thoughts contain. The perceptions and stereotyped roles that exist in the society can be partially blamed for the problem. For example if there are women in the senior position's offices, it is automatically assumed that they are either the secretary or the president's girl friends. Another example it is often assumed that men are better leaders than women. I believe

that men often feel awkward about staying at home for a long time to be their children's caregivers due to the cultural pressures from male colleagues. And also women are the ones taking the mother role automatically, even if it means less income for the family.

I think there are also differences in communication between the two sexes, and those can sometimes lead to misunderstandings or to see women as less determined. Men often decide the topic and the time of the discussion and take fast decisions. Women ask more questions and also sometimes use an question intonation as if they are waiting for an acceptance from their public. Men tend to be interested in moving forward in their career and women tend to spend time to understand and to identify with their surroundings. One of the reasons men can be considered better leaders is perhaps that they are more direct and clear in what they say. Men often send clear messages that is heard and seen by others and it's often easy to grasp their ideas. In contrast women tend to go around the bush and say too many words and as a result an unclear direction. That is why men are better understood by surroundings than women. Men don't involve emotions with their work and try to keep a distance from the employees. They often don't get too close with employees and this is a positive quality for a senior top managers. For instance, I think it's often best for the objective of the whole company to layoff certain employees and women have a hard time making these decisions because of the bond they form with employees.

Women I believe

also obtain their overall life satisfaction from their contribution of many areas of their life, rather than mainly from their work. Many women may therefore be satisfied in their jobs without reaching senior management levels. What I have noticed when IÒ've worked, for example when I was the manager for an Diesel shop i Gothenburg, is that women often feel jealousy and inferiority when other women succeed, and this may create barriers between us. This is so wrong I think, we should help eachother instead, like men does. Instead of feeling inferiority, women should support each other,