To Achieve or Not: The Manager's Choice

A five-year study of more than 16,000 managers and their subordinates from organizations of virtually every size and description has revealed substantial relationships, in both a practical and a statistical sense, between managerial achievement and the nature of managerial practices. Such factors as the manager's motivational profile, his approach to employee motivation, employment of the participative ethic and involvement strategies in relationships with subordinates, attained level of interpersonal competence, and overall managerial style have been found to bear directly on the manager's achievement—both attained and potential—and to be reflected among his subordinates. In effect, the research clearly shows that there are identifiable behavioral factors, directly under the manager's control, which determine not only managerial achievement but the potential achievement of subordinates as well. To achieve or not becomes a matter of managerial choice; the key is to decide and then to learn to do so.