What Is a Manager?

What is a manager? It is difficult, if not impossible, to come up with a textbook answer to this question. Everyone has their own views and opinions. Much of these views come from their personal experience with management, either as a member of it or a subordinate. Every manager's job is unique. What a store manager’s duties are at one store may not be the same as what a store manager does at another store. The roles of a manager are many and at times can change from one second to the next. So, what exactly is a manager? Here are some examples of what a manager is and what they do.

A manager is a person tasked with overseeing one or more employees or departments to ensure these employees or departments carry out assigned duties as required. A manager makes sure the lines are straight. A manager is an individual who delegates tasks to others so as to make sure it is easier for them as far as manual labor responsibilities go. A manager is someone who oversees everything inside and outside the business and the everyday working of each department as well as everyone who is scheduled to work. The manager has a bigger caseload to deal with than everybody else within the company. A manager is more of a boss who only manages—he does not want to be seen bending low. He works to put credit to his name. A manager is the one who develops a plan. A manager's role is to maintain a productive atmosphere while conserving cost. A manager is the communication link between the employees and upper management.

They are the boss, the director, the paper pushers, the one’s who make the plans and then give the orders to those below them on the totem pole. A manager's role is to provide proper oversight and direction to a group that is trying to accomplish a certain task. They may also act as a mediator between those that are under them. Managers may need to be called upon at times to be disciplinarians or even morale boosters. In short, the manager’s biggest duty is to make sure...