Marcos Fava Neves

People that make it happen

By Marcos Fava Neves (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-03-29 14:54

At the beginning of the academic year I coordinated a workshop at the University of São Paulo, with 5 executives from different industries (food, housing development, franchisee, retail and bank) that had histories of success in the last years.

The objectives of this workshop were: a) to raise important topics to be developed by researchers; b) to get feedback about their market perceptions; c) to give insights about what they need and value in terms of characteristics of managers that “make it happen”.

This last discussion gave important messages to our business administration students. The objective of this article is to bring my summary and personal opinion of the 10 most relevant points (topics) for professional development.

1 - Be Tuned – managers need to be linked to what is happening globally in terms of the macro-environment (politics, economics, socio-cultural and technology). Must read newspapers, watch media programs, pay attention and listen. Travel and have a global view, with cultural sensitivity. Dennis McKnight, a friend from Canada, always tells me: “stay home, stay stupid”.

2 - Be Simple – learn how to simplify things, being practical, searching for basic and faster solutions and solving the problems given. Work to reduce permanently the costs. It was said that costs are like nails: we should cut very day!

3 – Be Adaptive – consumers change, competitors change, solutions change. The capacity to adapt in a fast changing environment is one of the most important characteristic of a human resource.

4 – Be Innovative – several students and managers will innovate and create their own business, own solutions, differentiating, getting away from the basic, finding their “blue ocean”. To search for what is new; to create is a definitive point for leaving the common sense.

5 – Be an Investor - we are facing a process of global competition, so we should never stop studying, progressing and learning. Accommodation is one of the worst characteristics of a human resource. It is our responsibility to invest and build a better professional.

6 – Be Related – a very important characteristic is the capacity to relate with others, to build teams, work in groups and share knowledge and solutions. Respect the differences of each individual’s characteristics, since they allow a broader view. Allocate people at their best positions. At the same time that we should motivate, be competitive, try to include and give value to people, improving their confidence.

7 – Be Broad – be prepared to give opinions, to respect different opinions, to have good arguments and to think also why the opinions are different. A good training is to read editorials, opinion articles and learn always to see the facts with different lens, balancing the points and arguments and having control.

8 – Be a Dreamer – keep dreaming that the targets, results and wishes will be possible to achieve. Search for more, for excellence, wish more. People that don’t dream tend also to accommodate.

9 – Be Disciplined and Result Driven – a manager has to deliver results. Personal discipline is important, managing head, health and happiness. Develop a passion for planning and measurement of results. Be present and available whenever the company needs.

10 – Be Communicative – managers should communicate well. Not in excess, trying to sell yourself, but not silent to what is being achieved. Equilibrium and elegance to share with the team the major achievements also helps.

To finalize, the most undesirable characteristics for young managers listed by theses CEO’s were arrogance, boring style and personality, accommodated behavior and have lack of ethics and character. Excess of selfish and a not sincere person were also listed as characteristics of people to be avoided when hiring.

The messages for us involved with education are that our Universities must give a very dense theory based on business methods and models, but at the same time be strongly linked to markets, to “what is happening”. Besides good technicians, we must develop personal characteristics in our students, as the ones pointed here, in order to build a global citizen, linked with social and environmental causes.

We must realize that we compete in a global arena and business students from all parts of the world are competing for global jobs requiring a global positioning of our universities and courses.

This article can be used by students and professionals as a tool for individual planning. One idea is to ask yourself, or get opinions from your boss, your friends about how to improve in each of the ten topics listed. Which actions (strategic projects) do I need to take in each of these 10 points? Then, “make it happen”.

The author is professor of strategic planning and food chains at the School of Economics and Business, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (www.favaneves.org) and international speaker.