How to make things
happen
Making things happen, getting things done, achieving results –
this is what management is all about.
It can be said that there are three sorts of managers: those who
make things happen, those who watch things happening, and
those who don’t know what is happening. Before finding out
how to get into the first category, there are three questions to
answer:
■ Is getting things done simply a matter of personality – char-
acteristics like drive, decisiveness, leadership, ambition –
which some people have and others haven’t?
■ And if you haven’t got the drive, decisiveness and so forth
which it takes, is there anything you can do about it?
■ To what extent is an ability to make things happen a matter
of using techniques which can be learnt and developed?
Personality is important. Unless you have willpower and drive
nothing will get done. But remember that your personality is a
function of both nature and nurture. You are born with certain
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