The Essence of Managerial Thinking
As you ponder the future workplace, what kind of manager do you hope to be? The answer lies in understanding what it means to think like a manager.
During our Wharton Global Youth summer programs, Dr. Lori Rosenkopf, Wharton professor of management and vice dean of entrepreneurship, delivered a cross-program lecture to some 300 high school students learning with us on campus.
She asked the group a simple question: What business role do you envision having someday? CEO? Top-level manager? Middle manager? Not a manager at all?
While much of the room clamored to the CEO corner, there were a few outliers. One student admitted, “It’s just not interesting to me to worry about so many people.”
People, agreed Professor Rosenkopf, are essential to managerial responsibilities and challenges. “When I talk to graduate students and executives who come to Wharton, they say that getting people to do what they think should be done as a manager is actually the hardest part,” noted Dr. Rosenkopf. “Management is a really wide span from analyzing data-wise what you should do — and then getting people to follow that, which is part data and part behavioral.”
So, if you’re aspiring to get inside the C-suite, or even rise to middle management, Dr. Rosenkopf shared some insights about how to think like a manager.
Many voices, many faces. “As a manager, you’re responsible to a wide variety of stakeholders,” said Rosenkopf. “It’s not just your employees. It’s your customers. It’s the suppliers who you’re getting all of your inputs from. It’s your community where you reside, and the folks who depend on your organization for good and for bad. And, of course, the [financial] shareholders if you are a public company or you have other investors. There are many different parties who you have to respond to, and they each have different needs.”
Strategy, strategy, strategy. “Managers develop and implement strategies. There are all kinds of components to what a strategy is,” noted Rosenkopf, who went on to list a few:
- What kinds of products are you going to make in your organization?
- Which customers? Which markets are you going to serve?
- How do you actually get these products or services into the hands of your customers? What technology do you use to distribute, whether it’s all tech and online or whether you have to make physical things and ship them to people?
- How much do you have to work with different partners, like suppliers or perhaps you have an alliance with another company to jointly produce these sorts of things?
- What’s your competitive advantage?
Macro and micro. Managers need to consider the big picture, as well as the more intimate point of view as they run a business. “Sometimes managerial thinking is about how you manage an entire department – in organizations, this is known as the team aspect — and sometimes it’s about how you think about managing the individual people and motivating them and getting them to do what you need them to do,” said Dr. Rosenkopf. “If you’ve had a leadership role in a club, then you know that sometimes the things that you’re thinking about, everyone doesn’t agree, and there can be a lot of dissension about that. Getting the club member to do the things that you’re hoping for can be a challenge.”
Always a work in progress. With varied stakeholders, multiple strategic objectives and motivational demands of both teams and individual employees, a manager must embrace the problem-solving mindset. “This whole act of thinking through challenges for managers is a never-ending process as things continue to evolve,” observed Rosenkopf.
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Positivity resembling a successful omnichannel strategy – reaching people in various meaningful ways.
During my time leading the local chapter of Ms. President US, a girls’ leadership program in my town, I had the opportunity to reflect deeply on what it means to think like a manager. Dr. Lori Rosenkopf’s lecture on management complexities, presented during the Wharton Global Youth summer programs, resonated deeply with me, as it echoed many of the challenges and triumphs I experienced.
As a high schooler, leading Ms. President US was both a rewarding and challenging experience. The program aims to teach young girls about civics and government, equipping them with essential skills such as public speaking, campaigning, and building self-confidence to succeed as women in government. Balancing these responsibilities was not always easy. Past me would have definitely been able to relate to the student in Dr. Rosenkopf’s lecture who remarked, “It’s just not interesting to me to worry about so many people.” Prioritizing content that was both engaging and informative while ensuring that all participants, regardless of their experience levels, received the support they needed was an extremely delicate balancing act. However, while it was an experience marked by trials, with the skills and experiences that I gained, looking back I can easily say that it was one of the most interesting experiences that I’ve had.
Dr. Rosenkopf’s insights on management provided valuable perspectives that I found incredibly relevant:
Managing the chapter meant being responsible to a wide array of stakeholders. This included the girls in the program, their parents, our sponsors, and the community at large. Understanding and addressing the diverse needs and expectations of these groups was crucial. Just as Rosenkopf emphasized, effective management requires recognizing the importance of all stakeholders and ensuring their needs are met.
Developing and implementing strategies was a core part of my role. I had to design activities and sessions that would not only educate but also inspire the girls. Balancing what was interesting with what was informative was challenging, but necessary. This strategic planning mirrored the multifaceted approach Dr. Rosenkopf described, where managers must consider various elements such as market needs, product delivery, and competitive advantages.
Balancing the overall vision for the program with the individual needs of each participant was another significant challenge. I had to think about the big picture—ensuring the program’s goals were met—while also paying attention to each girl’s personal development and motivation. This dual focus on macro and micro-management is exactly what Rosenkopf highlighted as essential for effective leadership. Managing the chapter was an ongoing process of problem-solving and adaptation. There were moments when my strategies didn’t seem to work, but feedback from participants and supporters helped me recalibrate. This never-ending process of improvement and learning is a fundamental aspect of management, as Rosenkopf pointed out.
Reflecting on my journey with Ms. President US and Dr. Rosenkopf’s lecture, I’ve come to appreciate the everchanging and involved nature of management. The program not only helped me find my path as a young woman of color aspiring to enter politics but also reinforced my belief in the importance of community and stakeholder support. Today, I am proud to be assisting a state representative with their campaign, an experience I never thought I would have. This role has further cemented my understanding of leadership and the importance of staying true to the motivations that drive us.
The article has also reminded me of the generous sponsors, community members, and volunteers who support us because they believe in fostering a new generation of changemakers. As a leader, it’s easy to get lost in the technical aspects and data-driven strategies, but true inspiration comes from remembering the good we want to see represented in the world and the people who help make that vision a reality.
I read the article “The Essence of Managerial Thinking” which appealed to me because I have a strong interest in business and leadership. I aspire to become an engineer, eventually holding a management position. Furthermore, I’d like to establish and lead my own business one day. It seems that many other students my age have similar aspirations. During the Wharton Global Youth summer program described in the article, most of the high school students in question were interested in becoming a CEO. However, there were a few exceptions. It is important to recognize that every managerial role is important, from CEO to mid-level manager. Without any of these roles filled, a business cannot function at its optimal level.
This article was especially fascinating for me because this upcoming school year, I will be serving as a senior executive officer in my school’s Student Council. I aim to display strong leadership qualities, namely integrity, compassion, and resilience. When I was younger, I would greatly admire the executive officers and now that I am one of them, I want to be a good role model for students in lower grades.
There were multiple pieces of advice from Rosenkopf that I will try to employ this upcoming school year. Most of all, he explained how leaders must engage with a wide variety of stakeholders. In the case of businesses, stakeholders might include employees, customers, suppliers, community members, financial shareholders, and investors. In the context of Student Council, this might include other members of Student Council, the student body as a whole, faculty, and parents.
Rosenkopf mentioned some leadership characteristics that I have observed in friends and classmates. In clubs, he explains, there will inevitably be a certain degree of dissension. However, leaders must be capable of getting club members to all work towards the desired end goal. One of my friends graduated from high school this year and she was the President of my robotics team. I was always in awe of her ability to facilitate teamwork and cooperation so that everyone on the team was working towards one goal. Additionally, I think Rosenkopf would agree that it is important for leaders to understand each group member as an individual with unique gifts and talents, instead of someone to use or take advantage of. Leading in such a manner helps each individual feel welcome and accepted.
Moreover, Rosenkopf explains that it is critical for good leaders to have the ability to motivate others. I think that I do a good job motivating people. Case in point: Thanksgiving. When my family is preparing our annual Thanksgiving meals, I make a few dishes but also try to motivate others so that we can finish effectively and efficiently.
To summarize, I enjoyed reading this article and hope to employ lessons learned this school year and beyond.
I used to think that management was about making simple decisions and giving orders, just like a typical Mcdonald’s manager. However, after reading this article, Dr. Lori Rosenkopf’s insights altered my perception of what it truly means to think like a manager.
During 8th grade, I was selected as a coordinator of the middle school section at my local church. My ambitious goal was to start a mentorship/buddy program where the middle school students had to communicate with our younger kids to complete various tasks by being assigned as partners. I initially thought that this would be simple and very straightforward, but I soon found myself experiencing unexpected difficulties. At first, I was excited and confident since this was the first thing I organized as the middle years group coordinator, but as we began implementing the program, I realized that managing different personalities and expectations was far more challenging than I had anticipated. Some middle schoolers were enthusiastic about mentoring, while others were a little less mature about it and still a bit childish. Similarly, the younger kids had varying levels of listening and responding since they were still very young.
When Dr. Rosenkopf said in the article “As a manager, you’re responsible to a wide variety of stakeholders” and “There are many different parties who you have to respond to, and they each have different needs” this resonated with me deeply after looking back on it. I should have considered the perspectives of the younger kids, the middle school mentors, and the church staff, which I failed to do. It was crucial to ensure that everyone was following the task while being heard since communication was a key factor in this program, but my 8th grade self didn’t know anything about managerial thinking, leading to what was supposed to be a fun and socializing program in our Sunday church service, to eventually shut down.
I felt ashamed of myself. I was chosen to lead a large group of people at my church service so everyone can grow and learn together because the church staff trusted me and felt like I was the best person for this role, however I failed and disappointed many. Reading this article taught me many things and definitely allowed me to reflect upon this experience. Dr. Rosenkopf’s discussion on macro and micro perspectives in management highlighted where I went wrong, saying my focus was way too narrow; I was caught up in the big picture without paying attention to the individual personalities and behavior of each person. We had partners that connected well and worked successfully together, but in most cases, either one person in the partnership was working, or neither of them was working. The purpose was for the middle years students to act as an older sibling figure for the elementary kids, but lots of them failed to act as one and lots of the kids were not very open to working. If I thought about selecting each partnership individually, maybe the outcome would have come out a bit different.
Reflecting on this experience now, 2 years in the future, I see the value of Dr. Rosenkopf’s advice on the importance of management. This lesson in early leadership taught me that effective management is not just about making simple decisions and giving orders like a Mcdonalds manager down the street; it’s about understanding and responding to the diverse needs of the people you manage. It’s about communication, empathy, and continuous adaptation. As I ponder into the future and consider what kind of manager I want to be, I will carry these insights with me, striving to be a leader who not only directs, but also listens, understands, and inspires.
Hi, Dylan! I appreciate this insightful reflection on management. I know it is hard when ambitious goals do not meet expectations, so thank you for sharing this moment in your life. When faced with similar challenges, I remind myself that everything happens for a reason. I like to ponder the greater lesson I was meant to learn and have sometimes found that failure can be a gift rather than an undesirable fate. When faced with setbacks or unexpected turnouts, we are given the valuable opportunity to pause in an otherwise busy time. At such moments we can choose to quit or persevere, both at a price. Giving up on a goal is disheartening and often leads to feelings of loss, but pushing through hardship without recovering first can be equally detrimental to our well-being. Proper recovery requires deep reflection before further action, so I was happy to read that you learned from your experience with mentorship and developed an admirable goal of leading with empathy while inspiring those around you. As you rediscover and immerse yourself in the true pillars of management, I encourage you to view the “typical McDonald’s manager” in a new light.
When I think of a McDonald’s manager, I picture my father, an immigrant from Bulgaria who achieved the highest managerial position, working for McDonald’s for nearly twenty-one years and counting. My father is the person to call in an emergency, both corporate and personal. He never puts his phone on Do Not Disturb. It could be during normal working hours when he gets a call, but often his phone rings late at night or early in the morning. No reason is too small for him to leave home and help. Above all, he coordinates a strong team dynamic across three restaurants, working long hours to manage various operations, including those of his separate smart home automation company.
As his daughter, I take great pride in his achievements. I understand I am biased, but my strong feelings are not without reason. As I matured through childhood, my father grew alongside me in management and business. To this day, he inspires me to take greater initiative by working hard and demonstrating the unwavering determination that is a hallmark of his character. I believe we must first break stereotypes to recognize strong management. A title, such as CEO, does not make a manager great. Instead, greatness and strength are a matter of character. A capable manager has a heart of gold, shaped by determination and polished by experience. Strong managerial thinking is a treasure that can be found in any workplace, and all managers with a fighter mentality and generous heart are excellent examples.
Initially, I believed that being a leader was straightforward. During my first group project in third grade, I thought leadership merely involved delegating tasks while contributing equally. However, as I progressed through grade school and entered middle school, I began to see more of the iceberg beneath the surface. Leadership and team management require understanding team motivation, assessing work efficiency, and ensuring team members’ willingness to follow. As Rosenkopf stated, “As a manager, you’re responsible to a wide variety of stakeholders.” Your teammates rely on you, and your teacher or professor expects results and achievements.
This summer, I attended the Free Enterprise Leadership Camp. On the first day, everyone was divided into five companies and tasked with electing leaders. Being at a leadership camp, I anticipated many would vie for the president position, but only one hand went up—mine. I was perplexed and asked my company, “Why aren’t any of you interested in competing against me?” This experience echoed Dr. Lori Rosenkopf’s observation, “It’s just not interesting to me to worry about so many people.” I speculated my teammates feared judgment and failure due to the camp’s ranking and awards. This assumption was reinforced by the number of candidates for the vice president role, where a lively debate ensued to determine the suitable candidate.
I was assigned the most challenging genre for the company: publications and styles, while other companies focused on food and entertainment. This predicament forced me to consider the components Rosenkopf mentioned: products, customers, delivery methods, partnerships, and advantages. We chose to produce Polaroids for events, advertisements for companies, and tie-dye t-shirts. Our customers were other companies; we made tie-dye shirts for a capture-the-flag event, created four posters for advertising, and provided Polaroids for a social hour. These ideas were challenging to conceive as we aimed to avoid replicating past projects like stickers. Our delivery method involved both physical and digital handovers. Our sole advantage was the lack of a competing publication and styles company.
Dr. Rosenkopf’s insight, “If you’ve had a leadership role in a club, then you know that sometimes the things that you’re thinking about, everyone doesn’t agree, and there can be a lot of dissension about that. Getting the club members to do the things that you’re hoping for can be a challenge,” resonated deeply with me. My teammates were initially skeptical of my plans, making motivation difficult. Nonetheless, we secured second place.
To me, leadership means guiding teammates and partners to success, ensuring everyone feels motivated and dedicated. Without motivation and dedication, a team is doomed to fail. Leadership is an evolving skill, essential for guiding teammates, inspiring people, and achieving goals. A team manager should constantly strive to become a better leader, as Diana Drake suggested.
Daniel, I appreciate your sharing this personal event of participating in the Free Enterprise Leadership Camp. I agree that managing is the most difficult part when it comes to running a company or an organization, as it deals with living people rather than just crunching numbers. Managing other people as a leader is much more than just “delegating tasks and contributing equally,” there seems to be something bigger than the tip of the iceberg that we usually see. Managers have a lot to think about. They not only have to be educated in business management, but they must also have the appropriate soft skills to ensure a comfortable yet output-yielding working environment for their employees.
Regarding the article, I think that the most important skill managers can have is the ability to see the bigger picture. Managers need to develop certain strategies to get ahead in competition, and they also need to look over everyone that’s working for the company. I strongly felt this when I was volunteering as the manager for my school’s yearbook club. I was in charge of distributing work and jobs to other students; figuring out the theme, concept, layout, and type; and contacting various school administrative officers, along with the printing company. All of this was strenuous work, but it didn’t come close to the difficulties I faced when I was trying to come to an agreement with my teammates. While the entire yearbook club consisted of only about ten members, it was maddeningly difficult to find an idea that everyone unanimously agreed on. Our club consisted of students from different classes, grades, and ages, so perhaps it was just natural for everyone to concur with each other. As manager, I always tried to suggest and pick ideas that everyone felt positive about, but in the end I inevitably had to shut down ideas that only a small portion of the group agreed upon.
I saw multiple similarities in your experiences and yours, especially the part where you mentioned that your teammates were initially skeptical of your plans. This was also the problem with me: my teammates would say that they didn’t think my plans would work, while not having ideas to improve them. Because of this, it was very difficult to motivate my teammates. I solved this problem by asking what my teammates wanted to do, inquiring them about specific details and ideas, using collaborative platforms. According to a post written by Jan Sythoff, using collaborative platforms increases productivity by 10%(Sythoff, 2020). While some may argue that one-way communication and work distribution works more effectively in organizations with more people, I still think that communication would be essential. Although it may sound counterintuitive, the more people you have, the more communication is possible, and should be done.
My experience as the manager for the school yearbook club helped me gain a profound insight into the business and management world, providing me with a good sense of people management. Some people might claim that being a manager is easy, since they only distribute work to other people. I used to think this too, but I now know that managing the team is the most difficult part of running a company. However strenuous it may be, I will continue to strive for excellence in team management. Like you mentioned: we, as managers, should dedicate ourselves to guiding the team towards success.
“As you ponder the future workplace, what kind of manager do you hope to be?” Wow. Pause for a second, and if you are an aspiring C-suite executive or middle manager (like me!), think about how you would respond to this article’s opening question. What kind of manager do you hope to be someday?
Personally, my response is that I hope to be a manager who puts people first, has the technical skills to strategize, is able to examine details yet still is able to zoom out and see a bigger picture, and is always learning. Interestingly enough, the experiences that have molded my perspective (and academic interest!) towards management corresponds directly to the insights Dr. Rosenkopf shared:
Many voices, many faces —> I first started understanding a manager’s thought process when I started assistant coaching my sister’s middle school volleyball team (though prior to reading this article, I never knew that there was an actual term associated to managerial thinking!). When you are a coach, just like as a manager, there are many “stakeholders” who’s wants and needs you must balance. It’s not just the players, who you are responsible for coaching to their best. It’s the school’s athletic organization, who you work with to schedule practices and games. It’s the parents, who though are the most dedicated cheerleaders, sometimes put pressure on you when they ask you to give their daughter to have more playing time. Then there are the referees, who after games, sometimes need a gentle reminder to collect their paycheck (else you’ll need to chase them to the door with their forgotten check). The many different people that I work with as a coach is what really makes what I do meaningful. In every managerial position, there are always many faces, that is, many voices. Your job is to listen and respond to them all.
Strategies, strategies, strategies —> After assistant coaching my sister’s team, I worked with my local YMCA to start a volleyball program. I didn’t know it at the time, just like a manager, I was developing strategies for this endeavor. After witnessing an amazing turnout at the middle school tryouts, I knew there was a demand. I had a purpose too. With so many girls trying out for the team, sadly, many were cut, and they lost an opportunity to learn, play, and grow their leadership abilities. This devastated me, and I wanted to do something about it. Additionally, as a volleyball player myself, I am familiar with the expensive costs of participating on a club team. These costs deterred myself from playing club, but I didn’t want it to deter others. For these reasons, I started running adaptive youth and youth volleyball classes. As the program grew, I recruited a few high school players along the way. Strategizing is a comprehensive process; it doesn’t happen overnight. But in my experience, developing strategies is key to effective managerial thinking. Managers can be likened to captains at sea; developing and implementing strategies is a manager’s way steering the course of their ship.
Macro and micro —> When I plan for each practice, I consider the players and coaches on an individual level as well as on a holistic level. Managers need to be able to do both. For instance, if a specific player needs help with a particular skill, or isn’t buying in to the core values of the team, I may ask one of my assistant coaches to work one-on-one with the player. If I feel that overall, the team is distracted, I may forgo a drill I had planned for practice and choose to incorporate a game into the class instead. I’m currently reading Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan, a recommended reading for AP Economics at my school. I’m only halfway done, but I’m already beginning to appreciate both macroeconomics and microeconomics. If I were to write a new book called Naked Management, I would introduce macromanagement and micromanagement, both of which would deviate from the current notorious definitions (although I think that would be confusing for readers, so this hypothetical book probably won’t be getting published anytime soon). My point is, management is all about being flexible; sometimes managers use magnifying glasses, sometimes they use telescopes.
Always a work in progress –> In my experience, a managerial mindset is one that closely corresponds to that of a growth mindset. Why? Just like how the best athletes are always striving to improve their game through practice and persistence, the best leaders never stop learning how to lead. I started coaching because I got injured and couldn’t play anymore. Looking back, my injury was the best thing that could have happened to me (this might be a stretch—getting injured was certainly not a walk in the park) because it propelled me towards management. Because of it, I have grown as both a leader and manager. And I am still continuing to grow. Maybe I’m reading too much into the opening rhetorical question, but respectfully, I have a bone to pick with what it suggests. “As you ponder the future workplace, what kind of manager do you hope to be?” Managerial thinking does not begin in the workplace; rather, it begins now. It is a process that we are all journeying to develop. Right now, I listen to interviews and read books from top coaches as well as books such as The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. In clubs at school, I’m continuously practicing my managerial thinking. And in the future, I hope to continue this journey by studying healthcare management.
Some people might say that money, happiness, or love is the essence of what makes the world go ‘round, but the more that I think about it, the more I am convinced that managerial thinking is what truly makes the world go ‘round. So what type of manager do I want to be? I want to be a manager that embraces “The Essence of Managerial Thinking”. But that’s just me. My mindset towards management may have begun through coaching; yours may be through something entirely different. So the real question is: What kind of manager do you want to be? I look forward to reading your responses!