In 1984 Harold Geneen, CEO of ITT, provided a two-sentence course on management. He said that although you read a book from the beginning to the end, you run an organization the opposite way. You start with the end and then you do everything you must do to reach it.

Whilst all good managers also have leadership abilities, management is more than leading people. It has many more components. Management is also routine administration, supervision, and knowledge of procedures, rules and regulations; for instance it requires knowledge and understand of process and procedures. However, it should focus on the results to be achieved.

Managerial success is actually measured by achievement, not by the process used to accomplish the results. Based on this results-oriented philosophy of management, the new definition focuses on outcomes. On that basis, management can be defined as the act of setting goals and taking responsibility for producing positive results.

The implication is that managers are held accountable, not only for their own personal effectiveness, but for the output and results of others in their unit, team and organization.

The corollary is that the effective manager begins by defining the end result and then does what is necessary to accomplish it. The question is not one of what the manager can control but of what they can contribute. The effective manager decides what result is required (the goal-setting stage), ensures that action steps are taking (the process) and takes responsibility for producing the outcome. Success will be measured by the degree to which a goal is accomplished.

If only life were this simple. It is more realistic to view success in terms of a batting average. Success in the managerial world is a matter of degree. Thus managerial performance cannot be judged entirely in terms of success or failure. An organization that does so tends to be a blame-culture and the end result is always a CYA (cover your ass) culture.

The most positive focus is on lessons learned, where learning is a core value. In this sense, success becomes a journey, rather than a destination. We cannot produce positive results every time. There is always room for mistakes and even failure, but there is never room for complacency or low standards. 

Whilst managers can and should work towards positive results, they are not the only thing and the ends do not justify all means. While positive results will not, for example, justify unscrupulous means used to attain success, appropriate means do not justify unsatisfactory results.

Means and methods are designed to achieve some specific end. When circumstances change and new means are called for, it often turns out that the old ones have become sacrosanct. The means have become ends in themselves - perhaps they are no longer effective but they are enshrined. Means and ends, processes and goals must be in alignment in order to attain positive results.

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