The Skills evolution of Managers as they ascend the Organizational Hierarchy

Managers are very busy individuals. They have great responsibilities in an organization, and a significant percentage of their organization's success or failure rests in their hands. Thus, it is essential for them to be equipped with key managerial skills as they advance in the organizational hierarchy. 

The First Skill: Technical Skills

This skill is crucial for a first-level manager (also known as a supervisor). It means that they must have a mastery of their job and understand every detail involved in achieving their desired goals. 

For example, if a first-level manager works as a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant, they must be well-versed in every technical aspect of car manufacturing within their sphere of responsibility. They should understand the step-by-step process required to complete their group’s assigned tasks. 

The Second Skill: Human Skills

It is often said, "No man is an island." We cannot exist by ourselves—we need to interact and communicate. This is where human skills come into play. Human skills are essential for building teams, creating networks, establishing linkages, and harmonizing the efforts of individuals under our responsibility toward achieving organizational goals. 

The Third Skill: Conceptual Skills

This skill involves critical thinking and strategic planning to guide the organization as it envisions its future. Top management—such as the CEO, COO, Board of Directors, and Company President—relies on this skill to a much greater degree, as the organization's future largely depends on their decisions. They must carefully and proactively analyze both the present and the future of the company.

In today’s globalized and technology-driven world, top-level managers must harness their conceptual skills and use them to their advantage to ensure their organization's survival. As a manager ascends the organizational hierarchy, their skill set also evolves. They use all three skill levels, albeit to different degrees. A first-level manager (supervisor) relies more on technical skills than on human and conceptual skills.

A middle-level manager depends more on human skills than on technical and conceptual skills. 

A top-level manager primarily employs conceptual skills because they oversee the organization’s direction. However, this does not mean they no longer require technical and human skills—both remain essential and are used whenever necessary. — Marino J. Dasmarinas

A STORY ABOUT STRATEGY AND TEAMWORK (The Hare and the Tortoise)

Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster.

They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep.

The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ.

The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race. The moral- "Slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with."

THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE

There are few more interesting things.....it continues as follows......

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax.

If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race.

The tortoise agreed. This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral - " Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable."

THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE

The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no way it can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted.

It thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.

The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

The moral - "First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency."

THE STORY STILL HASN'T ENDED

The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together.

Both realized that the last race could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.

They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together.

They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier. The moral - "It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership. Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could." In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort.
Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both.

The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.

To sum up- the story of the hare and tortoise has much to say: Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with failure; & finally, compete against the situation - not against a rival.