In the 21st century, managers are responsible for the application and performance of knowledge at task, team, and individual levels. Their accountability is absolute and cannot be relinquished. In a changing world, successful organizations spend more time, integrity, and brainpower on selecting them than on anything else.

1. The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian
Development Bank, or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included
in this presentation and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this presentation do not imply any
view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.
Marry in Haste,
Repent at Leisure
Olivier Serrat
2013

2. Imagine
Your purpose-driven organization has the
right strategy. It also has the right
structure (since that follows strategy). Are
you happy? Not yet … You do not have
enough of the right stuff.

3. Wanted: The Right Stuff
The right stuff are inspiring, caring, infusing,
and initiating managers who go about their
business quietly, on the word of Henry
Mintzberg. Warren Bennis, always keen on
leaders, sees them as white knights who can
herd cats.
Most people would be happy with either
variety; indeed, they would be happy with
any of the prototypical characters drawn in
management textbooks. But, the fact is that
such high-caliber material is not available for
nearly all organizations.

4. On People Decisions
Therefore, it is
vital to make the
most of what
human resources
organizations do
have and to spend
more time,
integrity, and
brainpower on
making people
decisions than on
anything else.
Experience shows
that one in three
promotions ends
in failure, that one
in three is just
about effective,
and that one in
three comes to
pass right.
The quality of
staffing and
promotion reveals
the values and
standards of an
organization's
management and
whether it takes its
duties seriously.

5. One Managerial Responsibility
Once upon a time, the standard
duties of managers were to set
objectives, organize, communicate,
energize, measure
accomplishments, and (maybe)
develop people. They must now
integrate worldwide phenomena
into strategic decisions, take greater
risks more often over longer periods,
visualize their organization as a
whole and blend their function
within it, manage by objectives,
inspire and motivate knowledge
workers, build cohesive teams, and
communicate information rapidly
and succinctly.
Some necessary generic
attributes are confidence,
enthusiasm, fairness,
humanity, humility, integrity,
and toughness. There is no
room for mediocrity. In the
21st century, managers are
responsible for the
application and performance
of knowledge at task, team,
and individual levels. This
accountability is absolute and
cannot be relinquished.

6. One Manager Development
Managers must be groomed for strategic, operational, and
team leadership. Sadly, the art of manager development is in
its infancy. Manager development is not about promotion or
replacement planning; it is not about finding potential; it is
not about attending courses; and it is definitely not a means
to change personality. Its sole purpose is to make a person
effective. Therefore, manager development must deal with
the structure of management relations, with tasks, with the
management skills that a person needs, and with the
changes in behavior that are likely to sharpen existing skills
and make them more operative. If managers are to be
grown, the elements of identity that should be cultivated
relate to quality (what a manager has to be), function (what
a manager has to do), and situation (what a manager has to
know).

7. Growing Managers
Human resource management must change. Too often,
what the occupation entails has little to do with human
resources, even less with management. One should accept
that the majority of people want to work productively and
that managing them is the responsibility of their manager,
not that of a human resource specialist.
But, there are crucial roles that, naturally, are best carried
out by human resource divisions. One of them is growing
managers, not bosses. There are implications for
recruiting, coaching and mentoring, learning and
development for management, and—quite simply—giving
people who merit it the chance to manage.

8. Caveat
Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their
work done.—Peter Drucker
These days, people do not so readily accept as manager
someone whose credentials they do not admire. If persons are
promoted because they are politicians, others will deride
management for forcing them to become politicians, too. Some
will stop performing; others will start fawning; the best will
quit: this should matter very much.
When rewards and perquisites go to nonperformance,
obsequiousness, or mere cleverness an organization declines in
tune with these attributes. As another adage has it, trees die
from the top.

9. Further Reading
• ADB. 2008. Managing Knowledge Workers. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/managing-knowledge-workers
• ——. 2009. Managing by Walking Around. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/managing-walking-around
• ——. 2009. Growing Managers, Not Bosses. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/growing-managers-not-bosses
• ——. 2009. Building Trust in the Workplace. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/building-trust-workplace
• ——. 2009. Leading in the Workplace. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/leading-workplace

10. Further Reading
• ADB. 2009. Exercising Servant Leadership. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/exercising-servant-leadership
• ——. 2009. Distributing Leadership. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/distributing-leadership
• ——. 2010. A Primer on Talent Management. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/primer-talent-management
• ——. 2010. Informal Authority in the Workplace. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/informal-authority-workplace

11. Further Reading
• ADB. 2010. Engaging Staff in the Workplace. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/engaging-staff-workplace
• ——. 2010. Leading Top Talent in the Workplace. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/leading-top-talent-workplace
• ——. 2010. Delegating in the Workplace. Manila.
www.adb.org/publications/delegating-workplace

12. Videos
• ADB. 2012. Building Trust in the Workplace. Manila.
vimeo.com/67184321
• ——. 2012. Distributing Leadership. Manila.
vimeo.com/67185511

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