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Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
KEEPING YOUR CAREER ON TRACK
By Craig Chappelow and Jean Brittain Leslie
Center for Creative Leadership © 2001
A successful manager is one who has reached atleast the general management level, who, in the eyes of senior executives, remains a likely candidate for promotion.
The key to the success of a manager achieving leadership and continuing it depends on four essential skills detailed below.
Interpersonal Relationship Skills This is the ability to build and manage effective relationships by being good listeners, collaborative, supportive of others’ ideas, trustworthy and ethical. Derailed managers are described as insensitive, competitive, dictatorial, critical, easily angered, arrogant, and manipulative hence fail to establish strong relationships through the inability to relate to people. Contrary to what people think, developing interpersonal skills does not require a ‘personality transplant’. It simply requires an honest assessment of one’s behaviour and a plan to improve.
Pick someone with whom you are motivated to improve your interpersonal relationship
Build on your existing relationships
Display empathy towards others
Learn to listen
Collaborate
Team Leadership
Successful leaders build and lead effective teams through good communication with the team, motivating the team, delegating, selecting team members who can work together and produce results, and set clear goals and performance expectations. Executives who risk derailing are described as those who avoid conflict, fail to motivate others, do not sharing credit, and are unwilling to delegate. In order to build a team that can define their mission, work effectively as a group, and can reach goals, the following strategies may help.
Determine what motivates your direct reports
Help your team set a clear mission and be sure every team member understands it
Hire people who can...