Sizing Up the Irish Manager
As part of a larger project studying productivity differences between the U.S. and the UK, researcher Kieran Mannion (Dept. for Employment and Learning, Belfast) asked some 40 American HR practitioners and academics who had worked directly with Northern Ireland owner-managers for their thoughts on the main differences between the Irish manager and their American counterpart. This is what he was told:
- While Northern Ireland (NI) managers are just as highly intelligent, motivated, and hard working, their biggest limitation is that they “think too small.”
- With a lack of role models, NI managers tend to lower their own growth ambitions.
- While planning skills are generally excellent, the execution of those plans is generally poorer compared to other countries.
- NI managers do not sufficiently plan for success and future growth. Activity was often an end in itself.
“Leadership. . . for success”, by Kieran Mannion; Leadership and Organization Development Journal (Vol. 30 No. 7, 2009; pp. 639-648)