homemoney to purchasehow It is perhaps not so paradoxical as it may seem at first sight that, just as the technological pace accelerates, so do a host of other intangibles for management arise : 'modern' problems like communications within industry, public and labour relations, staff welfare, promotion, finance, dealings with shareholders this is a small sample of the kind of things that need coping with, additionally to standard routines, in any progressive organization. How can it be possible for a man or woman who has reached a high point of technological experience, and whose mind is reaching for more and more such experience, to deal with these more ephemeral, but equally important, management aspects ? Maybe the true answer to the conundrum lies somewhere between both schools of thought. What is probably needed today more than ever is the manager whose technical know how stops short of detail and who has, at a point in his or her career, opted for the wider horizons. One thing is certain : the manager must keep abreast, so far as he is able, of the technical aspects of the merchandise or services, or both, for which he is responsible. Anxiously determined to appear infallible, many a manager will give an impression of comprehension simply because he hasn't the moral courage to admit otherwise. The technical people are thus confused and confounded. A basic understanding of the problem under discussion is, under present exacting technological conditions, of great importance, if only to avoid being 'blinded by science' and to be spared the private scorn of a subordinate who knows that his superior is completely baffled by the technical arguments put forward. This last point leads almost naturally into the question of integrity in management. True integrity lies precisely in the ability to admit when one is fogged, when the issue is not clear, when, with the best will in the world, a subordinate's argument is simply not understood. Nothing is more likely to undermine the prestige of a manager than the discovery that he is bluffing. This is far more serious, in relation to the handling of subordinates, than a frank admission of defeat or ignorance or a plain 'don't know'. The old concept of a leader who 'knows all and sees all' is a dying one. The pace of modern life simply does not admit of the existence of the kind of Nietzschean figure, august and Olympian, a master mind before whom lesser beings make their obeisance. It is possibly only among the teachers of today that one finds something of that detachment which comes from wide knowledge. The manager cannot afford the luxury of too much detachment; he must have an integrity which admits his imperfections, so that from those imperfections he will be the better placed to understand the weaknesses of those he has been called upon to manage. Integrity is often defined as honesty, but it can also mean 'wholeness'. To be complete in oneself not perfect but complete assures the transmission of a very special quality to others. Financehome