What Makes a Good Manager? Start by Doing No Harm
By Nathan Kracklauer, Chief Research Officer at Abilitie
Barry Ritholtz, one of my major influences when it comes to understanding economics and investment, released a new book this year: How Not To Invest.
During the writing process, he was repeatedly told that the “negative framing” makes for a bad title. He didn’t care. His title conveys his main point: For almost all of us, the movements of markets are too deep and complex to anticipate. We are better served not by trying to discover their dark arts but by simply avoiding the basic mistakes that get us into trouble.
This is a general principle that applies in lots of areas. Take cooking. Michelin-starred chefs work wonders of culinary artistry. But they do not feed the world. The world is fed – nutritionally, emotionally, and socially – by hundreds of millions of meals prepared each day by people who get the basics right. Meals that cover the major food groups. Meals that are neither burned nor under-cooked. Meals that bring people together in an ancient social ritual of sharing, giving, and receiving.
Cooking and investment are just two examples of where the excellence of the few may capture our imagination, but it’s the millions – getting the basics right each and every day – who make the world go round.
The same goes for leadership and management.
Maybe there are truly great leaders, leaders whose hard work, talent, and luck have made them the managerial equivalent of a Gordon Ramsay.
