They doubted that enough PCs would be sold to make MS-DOS successful. Bill Gates begged to differ, bought out the rights to MS-DOS, which he had originally written for IBM, and Microsoft was born. Mr. Gates has tremendous passion for his visions and that passion is contagious, and that is a critical skill for any manager to make planning work as part of their management style.
Planning as a management discipline varies by level of management. First, the planning horizons of the first-line manager, middle manager and top manager all vary significantly, with the latter being the longest in scope, and the former being the shortest in terms of time to react (Martin, Osberg, 2007). The skills that a front-line manager needs to have are completely different compared to those from top management. The front-line management often has a completely different perception of time itself compared to top management (Westover, Taylor, 2010). Front-line management therefore requires a planning skill set that concentrates on the immediate tasks and prioritization of resources. Middle management requires a skill set that concentrates on collaboration and building shared task ownership (Martin, Osberg, 2007). Top management requires an entirely different skill set, where the priority is on creating organizational strengths and weaknesses to cope with turbulent, uncertain environments (Westover, Taylor, 2010).
Organizing also involves the ability to create cross-functional teams and have them be highly effective in executing towards common goals as well. This aspect of management calls upon all the skills of transformational leaders (Arnold, Loughlin, 2010). The greatest transformational leaders have exceptional skills at creating trust with their subordinates by being authentic, real, and worthy of trust. These managers are also known for making major sacrifices for their teams and showing their complete commitment to the goals they are trying to accomplish (Morgeson, DeRue, Karam, 2010). These are the core skills of an excellent manager and leader. One of the best managers at organizing in recent history is the creation of Google and its many business models. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, two Ph.D. students at Stanford, spent years working with the investment community just outside Stanford University on Page Mill Road where all the venture capitalists are located. This intensive organization effort led to the development of a corporate culture that valued innovation above all else, which led to 65% of products generating revenue
