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Interpersonal Skill: The Cornerstone of Good Leadership at any Level

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Interpersonal Skill: The Cornerstone of Good Leadership at any Level.
In every organization there are managers at different levels. Front line managers interact every day with employees; leading teams at the deck plate level. Middle managers oversee the front line managers and report to the top managers who are responsible for the overall direction of a company and its future potential. According to Organizational Behavior by Griffin and Moorhead, each level of management requires technical, interpersonal, conceptual, and diagnostic skill. The interesting part is that each level of management is different thus each requiring more emphasis on one skill over another (Griffin-Moorhead p12). While I agree that excellent technical skill is …show more content…

If interpersonal skill is the “ability to communicate with, understand, and motivate [people]” then how can it be less important for senior executives (Griffin-Moorhead p10)? Interpersonal skill should not be compartmentalized with the other managerial skills. Its importance should not fluctuate, it is equally important at all levels. Great senior leaders inspire, they are trusted, and most of all employees at all levels can relate to and understand them. There are few who embrace this concept and embody the idea that “People represent the essence of an organization regardless of the size of the organization or the technology it uses” more then Frank Blake, the CEO of Home Depot. Chosen as one of 2008’s best managers by Business Week Magazine, Mr. Blake is an experienced manager who through outstanding interpersonal skill, uses his best and most effect resource; his people. The former Deputy Secretary for the United States Department of Energy, Mr. Blake has been around. As a top executive of General Electric he cut his teeth under one of the nations top managers, Mr. Jack Welch, whom to this day he visits annually for personal and professional development (Business week 2008). Many things contribute to what makes a leader like Frank Blake successful but nothing compares to his outstanding interpersonal skill. He motivates through personal example and

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