Henry Mintzberg's Management Roles

Think of a manager you know – in business, sports, politics, education or any other walk of life? Which of these writers – Taylor or Mintzberg – best describes how he/she manages?

Mintzberg states that all managers deal with similar activities, namely, dealing with people, gathering and sharing information and attempting to look above the chaos to the future. The manager that I have chosen for this particular question is Richard Branson. I believe his management style is very unique, yet similar to what Mintzberg was trying to describe. One of the first Mintzbergs claims is that a manager a figurehead who performs ceremonial duties, such as attending an employee’s wedding or taking an employee to lunch. In one of Branson’s interviews he claimed that the most important factor as being a manager is to put your employee’s first. He states: “My philosophy is, put your employee’s first, your customers second and your investors third and, in the end, everyone will be happy”. Branson is well known for his personable management style. From the early beginning he wrote letters to his employee’s and each employee was given his telephone number. Mintzberg contemplates further that the manger is the leader that is responsible for motivating and encouraging employee’s, exercising their their formal authority. Brandon always believed in encouraging people by promoting them above the positions they would expect. His philosophy is that, as a manager, you must take risks. “You can start off as a cleaning lady and go to the top”. Mintzberg states that a manager is an entrepreneur that always seeks to initiate new projects. Brandon has made it clear that all great entrepreneurs take risks. He was never afraid of taking risks or failure and therefore was never afraid to initiate new projects. “Failure doesn’t damage a reputation as much as some fear”, he said. As one of the greatest managers, he loves a challenge and challenging people around him. Brandon’s impressive management