my family, my health, and my hobbies? How much time should I have for my
personal recreation? What do I want to stop doing? Without making clear decisions,
life just goes by, and fulfillment will not be achieved.
It is worthwhile to break down long-term goals into stages and to schedule
important basic functions far in advance. Just as in the case of meeting agendas,
one’s time should never be scheduled in a way that there is no room for inevitable
unexpected developments. In the daily agenda, it is better to plan an equal time
share for the expected daily task and unexpected interruptions. Since the flow of
material to the “in” box of a desk never ceases, and the computer of a manager
provides ever-more requirements, an effective manager needs a system for
processing the continuous inputs, states Malik. The basis of such a system relies
on the art of delegating, and the ability to differentiate between what initially seems
urgent and what is truly important.
The effective upper-level manager masters both classical and modern communi-
cation technologies. This means he or she is able to anticipate which medium is
most appropriate, whether telephone, fax, letter or email. He or she prepares for
telephone calls and keeps them short, works with text templates and dictating
machines when the communication concerns text production. In addition, their
personal working methods may require the employment of a secretary, a resubmis-
sion system, realistic “to do” lists, reliable checklists, as well as clear routines that
ensure professionalism, productivity and smoothly running operations.
Fredmund Malik also includes the systematic maintenance of relationships in the
category of working methods. I believe it has a higher value, as I will show in the
course of this book. Maintaining relationships is not only a means but also a goal of
organizing labor. More still: to a great extent, leadership consists in creating and
maintaining relationships.
Fifth Tool: The Budget and Budgeting
The budget is one of managers’ more sophisticated tools. Yet, according to Malik
unfortunately no all university graduates with a degree in Economics are prepared
to create a budget, let alone newcomers from other fields. Due to this inability and
an aversion to numbers, many managers pass on this important tool to someone
else. However, managers who do not have a solid grasp of budgets are unreliable,
uninformed and can be easily manipulated.
The late Peter F. Drucker was one of the few who regarded the budget as a
management tool rather than an accounting instrument. Due to the fact that
the manager is responsible for work units such as profit centers, divisions or
subsidiaries, they should establish the budget as one of their own tools.
The budget helps experienced managers to organize and plan their work; at the
same time, it helps inexperienced managers to become acquainted with their new
duties. As Malik states, “It is the best instrument for the productive utilization of
key resources, in particular human resources; for this reason, the budget is the only
tool that allows resources to be productive” (Malik 2001, p. 348). Malik emphasizes
that budgets are the basis for effective and good communication because the budget
clarifies what must be communicated in order to meet objectives. Yet I feel this is
44 2 Occupation or Calling: What Makes for Good Leadership?