They chat about hobbies, hold spur-of-the-moment meetings, and seek out people far from their chain of command -all to combat ‘the uncertainty and resistance inherent in their work. WHAT EFFECTIVE GENERAL MANAGERS REALLY DO BY JOHN P. KOTTER 7:35, A.M. Michael Richardson Hereis adescription arrives at workafterashortcom- of atypical dayin mute, unpacks his briefease, gets some coffee, and begins a to-do _thelife of asuccessful Tatacthediay, executive, in this 7:40 Jerry Bradshaw arrives at his case the president Gilice, which ie sighe nexe'so | (eeamtomget nant Richardson's. One of Bradshaw's management firm. duties is to act as an assistant to Richardson, 7:45 Bradshaw and Richardson converse about a number of topics. Richardson shows Brad- shaw some pictures he recently took at his summer home. 8:00 They talk about a schedule | and priorities for the day. In the | process, they touch on a dozen different subjects relating to customers and employees. 8:20 Frank Wilson, another sub- ‘ordinate, drops in. He asks a few questions about apersonnel prob- Jem and then joins in the ongoing discussion, which is straight- forward, rapid, and occasionally punctuated with humor. M45.WHAT EFFECTIVE GE 8:30 Fred Holly, the chair ofthe frm. and Richardson’s boss, stops in and joins in the conversation. He asks about an appoimtment scheduled for 11 o'clock and brings up a few other topics as well So Richardson leaves to get more coffee. Bradshaw, Holly, and Wilson continue their conversation. chair of another company (a poten- tial customer and supplier). One femmes 842 Richardson comes back. A sub: ordinate of 2 subordinate stops in and says hello. The others leave. 3 Bradshaw drops off @ report, hands Richardson instructions that go with it, and leaves. 8:45 Joan Swanson, Richardson’s secretary, arrives. They discuss her new apartment and artangemeuts fora meeting later in the morning, 84g Richardson gets a phone call from a subordinate who is return- ing a call from the day before ‘They talk primarily about the sub- ject of the report Richanson just received. items of business. 8:55 He leaves his office and goes toa regular morning meeting that one of his subordinates uns. About so people attend, Richardson reads during the meeting, 9:09 The meeting ends. Richardson stops one of the people there and talks to him briefly leaves. Basis of the Study Botweon 1976 and r901, Tatudied 15 successful gen- ‘ral managers in nine comporations. I examined what their jobs entailed, who they were, where they had ‘come from, haw they behaved and how these factors ‘varied in different corporate and industry settings. The participants all had some profit-eenter and ‘multifunctional responsibility. They were located in cities across the United States. They were involved imabroad range of industries, including banking, con- sulting, tize and rubber manufacturing, television, ‘mechanical equipment manufacturing, newspapers, 146 15 He walks over to the office of one of his subordinates, who is corporate counsel. Richardson's boss, Holly, is there, too. They dis cuss a phone call the lawyer just received. The three talk about pos- sible responses to the problem, As befote, the exchange is quick and includes some humor. 9850 The visitor and the subordi- nate’s subordinate leave. He opens the adjoining door to Bradshaw's office and asks a question, 952 Swanson comes in with five 9855 Bradshaw drops in, asks a ques- ton about a customer, and then 9:58 Wilson and one of his people ar ive. Tle gives Riclaadsen a nici and then the three talk about an important legal problem. Wilson doesn’t like a decision that Rich- ardson has tentatively made and urges him to reconsider. The dis- RAL MANAGERS REALLY DO ‘cussion goes hack and forth for 20 ‘minutes until they agree on the next action and schedule it for go'clock the next day. 10135 They leave. Richardson looks | ‘over papers on his desk and then | picks one up and calls Holly's sec retary regarding the minutes of the last board mecting. He asks her to make a few corrections, | star aesann co yaa xi fora friend who is sick. Richardson | wes a otto wo wid ee goes back to the papers.on his desk. 10} His boss stops in. Before Rich- ardson and Holly ean begin totalk, Richardson gets another call. Af- ter the call, he tells Swanson that someone didn't get a letter he sent andasks her to send another, ri0g Holly brings up a couple of is- sues, and chen Bradshaw comes in, The three stat talking about Jerry Phillips, whose work has be- come a problem. Bradshaw leads the conversation, telling the oth ers what he has done during the Jast few days regarding the prob- Tein. Richardyon anil Holly ask acstions. After awhile, Richard son begins to take notes. The ex- change, as hefore, x rapid and straightforward, They try to de- fine the problem, and they outline copiers, investment management, aud anumes products, The businesses they were sespoasible for tanged from doing only $z million in sales to more than $1 billion. On average, the executives were 47 years old. All were male. Most were paid well over $200,000 in 198a dollars ‘Data collection involved three visits to each GM over 6to 12 months. Each time, Tinterviewed them for at least s hours, and I observed their daily rou- tines for about 35 hours. [also incerviewed theie key coworkers. The GMs filled out questionnaires and HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Mach Apel 1999WHAT EFFECTIVE GENERAL MANAGERS REALLY DO possible next steps. Richardson | dozen details regarding the presen: _ esi Swanson and Bradshaw come lets the discussion roam away | tation to the potential customer, _in with alist of requests. from and back co the topic again | Bradshaw leaves. cl isc Richardson receives a call and again, Finally, they aBre= 08 55 ferry Thomas, anotherof Rich- | from Jerry Phillips. He gets his next step, | ardson’s subordinates, comes in. | — notes from the rr o'clock meeting, ‘NOON Richardson orders lunch for ‘He has scheduled for the afternoon about Phillips. They go back and himself and Bradshaw. Bradshaw some key performance appraisals, forth on the phone talking about comes in and zocs over a dozen | whichheand Richardson will old | lest business, unhappy subordi- items, Wilson stops by to say that | in Richardson's office, They talk | nates, who did what to whom, and he has already followed upon their | briefly about how they will handle | what should be done now. It is a carlier conversation each appraisal Jong, circular, and sometimes axe ied furobela emotional conversation. By the o| Fred Tacobs (a subordinate of 64, phillips is agreeing with raizo A staff person stops by with some calculations Richardson had_|‘Themas|joinsthem. Thomas runs | Bice dson on the next step and seat ie danke erend'tay | themecting He goes over jacabas | Richardson on the nex step hhaveabriel,amicableconversation, _ bonus for the year and che reason * for it, Then the three of them talk Bradshaw, Wilson, and Holly 1220 Luncharrives.Richardsonand about Jacobs's role in the upeom- all step in. Each is following up Bradshaw eat in the conference _ingyear. They generally agree, and | om different issues that were dis room, Over lunch, they pursue Jacobs leaves. cessed earlier in the day. Richard business and nonhnsiness anh ‘om briefly vells them af his cam jects, laaghing often at each oth- 30 Jane Kimble comes tn. te aP~ ton with Phillips, Bradshaw eal follows the same format. ‘er’s humor. They end the lunch PE! and Helly leave, talking about a potential major Richardson aks slot of aqestions | and praises Kimble at times. The | §:1@ Richardson and Wilson have a ‘eopponte, ‘meeting ends on a friendly note of light conversation about three or irs Back in Richardson's office, | agreement. feur items. they continue the discussion about the customer. Bradshaw gets a pad, and they go over in detail a presen tation to the customer, Bradshaw | 3:30 When Houston leaves, Rich- 3:00 George Houston comes in, the | 5:20 Jerry Thomas stops in. He de- appraisal format is repeated. scribes a new personnel problem, and the three of them discuss it. leaves. ardson and Thomas talk briefly More and mote humor enters the about how well they have accom. Conversation. They agree on an ac- igo Working at his deel, Richard plished heirebjectivesi the mect- ‘Hon totake, son looks over a new marketing ‘ings. Then they talk briefly about 5:30 Richardson begins to pack his brochure. some of Thomas's other suborli- briefcase Five people briely stop rates. Thomas leaves. by, one or twoat a time, go Bradshaw comes in again; he ‘and Richardson go over another | 3:45 Richardkon gets ashort phone 5:46, Heleaves the office. save me documents such as business plans, appoint= ‘ment diaries, and annual reports. ‘Imeasured the performance af the GMa by combin- ‘ng hard and soft indices. The former inclded mea sures of revenue and profit growth, both in an absolute sense and compared with plans. ‘The latter included opinions of people who worked with the GMs jinclud- ing bosses, subordinates, and peers) as well as, when possible, industry analysts, Using this method, T judged most of the GMs to be doinga “very good! job ‘A few were rated “excellene” and a few # good/fair. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW March=Apeil 199 a7