Top 10 Skills for a Successful Management Career

Top 10 Skills for a Successful Management Career

Ongoing Event

CAT Application Date:01 Aug' 25 - 13 Sep' 25

SundararajanUpdated on 20 Jul 2021, 04:13 PM IST

Skills for a Management Career: From the workplace to course activities, there are some skills that are not only useful in life but also highly desired by employers. In this article, we would like to introduce you to the top 10 management skills you need to enhance your career and personal growth. You do not need management skills? Think again. Contrary to popular belief, management skills are beyond organizations and companies; they help improve your professional path, your personal skills, and your relationships. If you want to advance in a management role, you need the best set of skills. If you were invited for an interview, use your past experience to illustrate how you acquired and developed the following skills just like yourself.

Top 10 Skills for a Successful Management Career
Top 10 management skills

What is management? Why is it useful?

Traditionally, the term “Management” refers to four common functions (and often a group of people) involved: planning, organizing, leading, and coordinating resources. Note that the four functions are repeated throughout the system and are highly integrated. This topic helps the reader to gain a comprehensive understanding of the areas of knowledge and skills required to perform the key functions of management.

According to (Management Innovation, 2008), "Management is the process of achieving organizational goals by working with people and other organizational resources."

Management has the following 3 characteristics:

  • It is a process or series of continuing and related activities.

  • It involves and concentrates on reaching organizational goals.

  • It reaches these goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources.

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In addition, management combines all six Ms., namely men and women, money, methods, machinery, materials, and markets. They use these resources to achieve the goals of the organization, such as high sales, maximum profit, and business expansion.

Also Read: BBA or Integrated MBA - Which Course to Choose after Class 12?

Top Management Skills you need for Success

Management skills are highly transformative, profitable, and beneficial. They can be useful beyond employer-employee relationships.

  • Entrepreneurship

  • Teamwork

  • Leadership

  • Strategic thinking

  • Project management

  • Conflict management

  • Negotiation

  • Communication

  • Time management

  • Adaptability

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Top 10 Skills for a Successful Management Career

Check out below the top 10 managerial skills that every MBA aspirant needs.

1. Teamwork

The ability to work in a team provides new and different perspectives, helps with motivation, and reduces stress. Ultimately, a team is a great learning opportunity and may open doors that you may not even know exist. In the work world, teams are increasingly trusted as a tool to increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

Wondering how to improve your teamwork skills? Be comfortable with highly effective team management ideas such as team performance and team mentality models. Both concepts have a strong track record when it comes to improving team performance and can be easily used in everyday business.

2. Leadership Skills

Investing in leadership is about investing in your ability to help express the best from yourself and others. Good leaders can act not only as forerunners of ideas but also as persuasive motivating guides to help others go beyond their expectations. How to become a leader? There are plenty of different leadership approaches. Consider transforming leadership as a starting point.

3. Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial skills are tools that help make a vision a reality. Consider startups and their founders: Often, entrepreneurs are practical and confident, beautiful communicators who are not afraid to think outside the box and put something new in the world. As the late Steve Jobs famously said: "stay hungry, stay foolish".

4. Conflict Management

It’s natural that people disagree on all sorts of systems—they will. Disagreement is normal and healthy, but only when properly managed. Learning some expansion strategies and taking the time to understand different perspectives can go a long way regardless of your position.

5. Negotiation

An old adage goes that “nothing in life comes for free”, which means we have to work for the things we want to achieve. A talent that is useful not only in politics but in all spheres of life—a big part, being able to say what you want in a harmonious, respectful way. Negotiation skills will last as long as asking to find a compromise in a fair and professional way.

6. Strategic Thinking

You do not need a complete fleshy strategy to be strategic - on the contrary, strategic thinking is a continuous process of "strategy". Think about chess: When playing, you can plan ahead, be brave, be intentional, and constantly improve your tactics depending on what you learn. To win the game, you need to prioritize, consider some possible scenarios and make decisions based on the best resources available.

7. Project Management

Any endeavor that is limited at any time and has a specific goal can be considered a project (learning new skills, getting promoted, building a house, etc.). Project management skills help you define, plan, organize, guide and control. With a plan away from confusion, you can achieve things like being strategic with your resources and learning from failure while monitoring progress.

8. Time Management

Time management is not just about being on time (it’s a great skill that leaves a lasting good idea!). Learning to use your time more without procrastination (surprisingly) gives you more time, avoids frustration, and can be accomplished. Bonus: You can re-invest your time in things you really care about.

9. Adaptability

No one knows everything, and being aware of it is often helpful, especially in a fast-changing world. If you want to take a new path and try something completely different without abandoning your principles, you will always be in a state of renewal and will never stop learning. This is a good starting point for innovation.

10. Communication

Effective communication skills can be considered basic life skills. It is not possible to perfect the ability to communicate information, but working on it can help personal relationships, improve your confidence, and really elevate your life.

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How can you improve your management skills?

There are many different ways to improve your management skills. One of the easiest ways is self-examination. You can read business books and intellectual articles about your most important management skills.

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Questions related to CAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CAT ?

Yes, you can fill the CAT form even if you currently have a backlog. CAT eligibility requires you to be in your final year of graduation or already graduated backlogs don’t stop you from applying.

While filling the form:

  • Enter the aggregate percentage/CGPA of marks you have obtained up to the latest semester for which results are declared (in your case till 4th semester).

  • There will be an option to mention that you have a backlog.

  • If you clear the backlog later, you’ll just need to show the updated marks during admission.

Hello Aspirant,

Yes, you can apply for the CAT exam as a final-year student. You must declare your backlog on the online application form. You do not write about it on the final-year student certificate; that document is to certify your enrollment status. You must clear all backlogs before the final admission process to any MBA college.

Hello,

Thank you for your question!

KL- MAT syllabus: Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, English/Verbal Ability, and General Awareness (similar to MAT/CMAT pattern).

CAT scores are valid in many private universities including KL University, but always check the year’s admission notification.

CAT vs other exams: CAT is toughest (IIMs + top B-schools), while MAT/CMAT/ATMA are relatively easier and accepted by many mid-level private universities.

Hello it will clear your doubt!

Hello Aspirant,

  1. I saw a cat. The cat found an old map inside a drawer of the king's palace.

Here's why:

  • "a cat": It's the first time we mention the cat, so it's indefinite.

  • "The cat": Now we're talking about that specific cat we just mentioned, so it's definite.

  • "an old map": It's the first time we mention a map, and "old" starts with a vowel sound, so "an."

  • "a drawer": It's one of possibly many drawers, not a specific one known to us yet.

  • "the king's palace": This is a specific, unique place, so "the."

Hello Kapish

You can find the last 5 year questions of DILR for CAT at Careers360 website. Moreover, you can find the previous year papers of all the subjects i.e. DILR, Quants and VARC. I am attaching the link through which you would be able to access the same.

Here's the link: CAT Previous Year Papers by CAREERS360
Sample paper of DILR: CAT Sample Paper (DILR) by CAREERS360

Thank You!!!