Persistence; In Business. In Sports. In Life., A Business Memoir

I remember hearing my father give his opinion about a neighbor who lived near us. It was across the back forty, but we could see his house from our back door. He said, "Belcher is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none." I never understood if this was a compliment or an insult. Maybe it was both. When I think of a general manager, that statement often comes to mind. A good general manager must have a lot of tools in his toolbox. But he doesn't have to be an expert at anything. For example, I can install a residential generator, complete with the automatic transfer switch, but I have to Google the formula for converting volts to amps. An expert would know this, and many other technical details. But, when the power goes out, my generator comes on.

The very best general managers don't have any blind spots. They might not see everything clearly, but they do see everything.