The qualities that make a successful general manager tend to be fairly similar across industries. The following are the six skills that every general manager requires today.
6 Important Skills for General Managers:
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Good organization skills
The ability to organize is the most important skill that a general manager can have. Organizing essentially means creating structures to support or accomplish a plan. This may involve creating a new system, building a strategy, determining how to move towards deadlines or how to measure milestones. A general manager would need to identify processes, procedures or events related to the organization that could be improved to create greater efficiency or enhance quality.
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Team building
General Managers know how to keep their teams running. Achievers are duly recognized and any toxic elements are gutted immediately. Motivating teams is also one of the qualities that a general manager must possess. Building trust systematically makes teams feel more committed and appreciated and aligned with the organization’s goal.
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Leadership
The best general managers are typically inspirational and effective leaders. They set the tone for their organization by demonstrating, through their actions norms for staff behavior. Effective general managers often lead by example. They motivate others to action and productivity is a crucial element of effective leadership. They draw consensus on plans wherever feasible and delegate strategically to the best – qualified staff.
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Communication skills
Communication skills are very essential for a general manager. He represents the company and forms the image of the same internally and externally. The best general managers are typically excellent communicators. They effectively communicate their expectations and needs to others. Aligning teams to the company’s future goals requires excellent communication skills.
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Ability to adapt to changes
Rigidity has no place in the general manager’s life. They must have the ability to adapt to changes, whether they are caused by internal or external environments. Nothing remains static and the general manager must have the bent of mind to adapt to these changes. Not only that he must be able to lead the entire organization successfully through such changes with well-defined strategies.
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Strategic vision
Strategy formulation is the job of a general manager. The best general managers recognize that lasting competitive edges are hard to generate. They build on their existing strengths while searching out new sources of advantage. First, the sales and profits of their strongest products are improved in their strongest markets with their strongest distributors. They use the resulting faster payoffs to help fund the search for future edges. They also anticipate competition to retaliate to their strategies and they plan for the worst-case response
How your general management skills can be improved ?
A certified general management course or a general management certification online would certainly help in improving general management skills. Prime institutions like IIM (Kozhikode), IIM (Raipur), XLRI, etc. offer general management certifications online. These certified general management courses can be accessed from the Talentedge platform.
More Information:
What are General Management Courses?
Career Scope for General Managers in India