Latest news with #managers
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Are Millions Of Managers Becoming Obsolete? Here Are 21 Reasons
In response to several articles here and here suggesting that millions of managers are becoming obsolete, I have been asked to clarify. What is the evidence? These managers are mostly highly educated, successful for many years, very well-paid, and often held in high esteem by their respective businesses. So what exactly is the problem? A Problem Within A Bigger Problem That question in fact is a key to understanding the issue: the obsolescence of managers has less to do with the personal characteristics of individuals acting as managers and more to do with the obsolete state of the organizations they work for. One useful insight in dealing with complex multi-dimensional problems is to take note of the insight--sometimes wrongly attributed to Albert Einstein--is to rethink fundamentals. 'If you have an hour to solve a problem, spend the first 55 minutes defining the problem and the last five minutes solving it." The Interconnections Of The Issues Dealing with any one aspect of the obsolescence of managers is likely to obscure the scale and interconnections with many other issues. All of the issues by themselves are well-known and have been discussed one-by-one many times in articles and journals. What is less common, indeed almost unprecedented, is to review all the many ways in which businesses and their managers are becoming obsolete. When we review the whole array of issues together, we can a better sense of the multi-dimensional nature of the problem. In this way, we can better understand why any individual issue is so hard to resolve. The Interconnected Causes Of Managerial Obsolescence To summarize, the principal interconnected reasons why firms and their managers are becoming obsolete are: Good News: Many Firms Have Now Evolved While resolving all these issues amounts to a new kind of organization and vast societal change, the good news is that we now have many examples of change actually having happened As shown below, many public firms are well along the way, although they are still only ~20% of all public firms. (None of the firms is perfect: all exhibit some aspects of traditional management.) Value-creating enterprises emerged from the combination of two elements: first, entrepreneurs began using digital technology and AI to deliver exponentially more value than traditionally-managed firms; and second, digital technology gave customers the power to demand more value from businesses. The killer insight: value-creating enterprises not only satisfy customers: they make much more money than firms focused on making money. Workplaces devoted to creating value for customers are also likely to be more congenial as workplaces than those focused on extracting value from customers and boosting executive bonuses. And read also: Millions Of Managers Are Becoming Obsolete—By Solving The Wrong Problem Why Millions Of Managers Are Becoming Obsolete—It's Not Rocket Science—Or AI
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
The return of two up top, full backs on the rampage and tiki taka going out of fashion: Why Arsenal, Man City and the rest of the Premier League's tactics will be so different this season
The Premier League is nearly upon us and along with the influx of fresh faces and future stars, comes new ideas. Every season brings with it new tactics and trends as the game's great footballing minds try to outwit each other all over again.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Romelu Lukaku SNUBS Jose Mourinho as he names the four bosses who 'changed his life' - despite playing under the Special One for three different clubs!
Romelu Lukaku snubbed Jose Mourinho on his list of the four managers who 'changed his life' - despite playing under him for three different clubs. Napoli striker Lukaku first worked with the Special One at Chelsea before linking up with him again at Manchester United and, more recently, Roma on loan. He failed to make the grade during his first stint at Stamford Bridge and after being sent out on loan to West Brom and Everton, he joined the latter permanently. Lukaku excelled there, earning himself a £75million move to United. The frontman was initially reluctant to join United and admitted years later that he regretted being influenced by a phone call from then-Red Devils boss Mourinho. Last year, Mourinho again came calling to convince him to reunite with him at Roma, admitting, 'We have a good team, but we are missing a champion.' Mourinho even spoke openly after Lukaku's need to 'feel loved' to perform at his top level, but not even this more subtle approach was enough for him to make the Belgian's list of the four most influential managers throughout his career. Lukaku named Antonio Conte among that group of 'footballing fathers' before telling La Gazzetta dello Sport: 'Yes, just like Roberto Martinez was in Belgium, [Ronald] Koeman at Everton and Ariel Jacobs at Anderlecht.' Speaking in a previous interview with Corriere dello Sport, however, Lukaku insisted he held no grudges with Mourinho and that he would 'never speak badly' of him. 'Absolutely not,' said Lukaku. 'Jose is a winner. I had him twice, first at Manchester United and then at Roma. Something happened between him and I don't know who, and I didn't want to get involved. I will never speak badly of Jose. 'At Roma, he didn't have a top squad, but he still went all the way. I always wish him the best, he's doing great things in Turkey, too.' However, Lukaku had even warmer words for Conte, under whom he won two Serie A titles at Inter Milan and Napoli, most recently last season. 'We have the same mentality: improvement only comes with hard work,' Lukaku said. 'He has a footballing idea that suits my characteristics, and when I'm at home, I try to learn the concepts of the game that he wants. 'Our relationship has always worked because he knows how to give me those motivations to try and be the strongest every day.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Signs Things Are About to Go From Bad to Worse
How to improve that gut feeling. I'm slightly neurotic — but can generally drag myself back into the realm of rationality. Yet every now and then, I get a feeling that 'Something is very wrong.' The few times I've had this feeling, something actually did go wrong. Our gut instincts are usually right. Yet that doesn't mean they detect every threat. Here are a few more signs. 1. Requests for private conversation Years ago, I was in one of my first corporate jobs. I thought things were going fine. I was working hard and hitting my performance metrics. Suddenly, the company lost a key client that generated 60% of revenue. Within a few months, rumors spread that layoffs were coming. First, managers assured us everything was fine. Then managers said they didn't know but not to worry. Then they said if there were layoffs, but we'd get advanced notice. Then — employees' desks started turning up empty. Near the end, I thought I was in the clear — until I got a meeting invitation from an HR manager I'd never met. I got the invite on two hours' notice, which was also ominous. Still, I'd somehow convinced myself, 'Nah, they can't be firing me. I've been doing everything I'm supposed to do.' As I walked into the meeting office — there were two HR women waiting. The energy in the room said everything. I sat down and felt numb. She talked but I didn't hear or remember much of what she said, other than near the end, with her saying, 'I'm sorry.' A few minutes later, I walked out without my employee badge. I quietly slinked out of the building, feeling a strange and new sense of shame. You never think it's going to be you. Many more would be let go by the end. The lesson it taught me It's often a very bad sign if a manager asks you to talk privately, or off to the side. It's especially precarious if you get a meeting invite from HR, and the meeting has no title. Getting let go makes you tougher. It teaches you to have a survival instinct, and not to buy into the 'we are family' nonsense that executives love to spew. Any company can say they are family. But they still fire family. 2. The sign that you should run, literally In the military, there's a saying, 'If you see an EOT run — run.' EOT stands for Explosive Ordnance Technician. They're the guys who detect and defuse bombs, as depicted in The Hurt Locker. The saying also highlights the importance of listening to your seniors. If someone with more experience than you, who is ordinarily calm, starts getting nervous, even if it's over a trivial detail — pay attention. Their concern usually means that trivial detail isn't so trivial. They've seen stuff go down. You can look at this another way too. If you're collaborating on a project with an experienced partner — don't be nervous if they are still calm and confident. They'll let you know when to worry. 3. The signs you need to get out sooner Years ago, I learned from a divorce counselor that the sooner a personality issue bubbles up in a relationship, the harder it is to make go away. This might seem counterintuitive. For example, if you see jealousy signs sneaking past a person's guard early on, it's probably only going to get worse. The problem is that people who are jealous, angry, or unstable, are not that way because of the relationship. They're that way because it's who they are. Studies have shown that these traits are often genetic and also encoded in childhood. They don't just flip and change on a whim. You have to chip them out of concrete (figuratively speaking). Nobody ever wakes up and says, 'Hey, I want to date a possessive, unstable tyrant.' It happens because people don't see it until it's too late. If character flaws start bubbling up early on, don't sell yourself that tacky line, 'I can change him!' Eventually, you'll find yourself doing things not to make someone happy, but to avoid making them angry. And that's when you know you're in a dark place. 4. Signs you are about to get sucker punched I worked as a bouncer and learned a ton about fights and de-escalating them. For the record, I didn't last long as a bouncer. I'm not some tough guy. I only got the job because I'm a larger guy. Here's what I learned If someone is in your face, angry, and overcome with emotion —you are always at risk of being sucker punched — full stop. The biggest danger is that they are too close. Things trend worse if they're repeating themselves over and over. It means adrenaline has hijacked their brain. They're on the verge of sucker punching you. There's no way to predict a sucker punch. They are all different. Sometimes he looks away first. Sometimes he looks at the ground. Other times, they look right at you. There's an old saying by Bruce Lee, 'Never take your eye off your opponent, even when you are bowing.' If they are yelling and aggressive, keep them at arm's length. That's the best thing you can do, and just reiterate that you can't let them get that close to you. But be willing to walk away. One of the most dangerous things you can do is get into a street fight. To you, it might be a street fight. To them, it might be much more. You win every street fight you avoid. 5. The signs your company is in trouble Years after I was laid off, I wisened up. I noticed something important for job security. After I moved up as a financial analyst, I was able to sit in on executive meetings. These meetings gave full visibility into the health of the company. These executives saw trouble long before most of the grunts did. If your COO, CFO, and CMO, all suddenly leave within a few months of each other — that's generally a very bad signal. In stock trading, executive turnover is an actual sign analysts use to downgrade a company. Most executives are competent and high performers. They don't suddenly lose their touch en masse and get pushed out. They know something is wrong and see trouble on the horizon first. You should too. Recap for memory: 5 signs things are about to get worse Someone who knows more is getting concerned (or runs). Top-level executives are fleeing the company en masse. You are asked to speak privately by your superior. An aggressor has lost control of their emotions and is repeating themselves. A new person you've just begun dating starts showing character flaws (jealousy, anger). Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
BofA Aims to Stop Early Recruitment of Junior Bankers
Bank of America Corp. managers are asking junior bankers to divulge whether they have a new employment opportunity and telling them they face redeployment if they do so. Tom Metcalf reports on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
