Critical Management Skills: Conceptual, Interpersonal, Technical and Political Essay examples

Submitted By jhaahs
Words: 373
Pages: 2

Jennifer Haahs
Bus 137-40-Principles of management
February 19, 2013
Instructor: Nina Mace Simpson

Although possessing all four critical skills (conceptual, interpersonal, technical, and political) in managing is very important to be a good leader in organizations, in my opinion, the conceptual skills are the most important skills that can help them to be effective, efficient, and productive leaders for their group or company. The skills are important because they help managers to “ analyze and diagnose complex situations, and let them see how things fit together and facilitate making good decisions”. This means that managers need to possess good strategic, analytical, and problem-solving, and creative abilities that will help them conceive new ideas, understand overall or specific situations, and then come up with the best solutions and decisions for the organization.
The story of the President and COO of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy, was one of the greatest example which demonstrated how great conceptual skill (and interpersonal skills as well) in a manager has help resolve a “ complex” and “ controversial” situation for the company. His fast food chain restaurants have been protested and boycotted for years by a group called, Campus Pride, the leading national organization of LGBT, for their disagreements and advocacy over definition of “traditional marriage” Instead of prolonging the bad publicity over their disagreements and controversy which impacted the company’s values, profits and image of this “Christian faith-based” , Mr. Cathy personally started to reach out to the leader of the LGBT