4. Roles and Skills of Managers Managerial Roles and the Skills Needed to Perform Them Managers play a variety of roles in organizations. Any manager likely needs to perform a variety of functions, but top executives are likely to play the most roles as part of the job and, as a result, need the broadest skill set to be successful. Managerial Roles Managerial Skills A study of CEOs suggested that senior leaders play 10 roles in organizations: Interpersonal roles o Figurehead-fulfilling ceremonial duties as a symbol of the organization o Leader-managing employees o Liaison-coordinating people or organizations Informational roles o Monitor-seeking information o Disseminator-forwarding information to others in the organization o Spokesperson-providing information in a formal way to people outside the organization Decisional roles o Entrepreneur-initiating change o Disturbance handler-handling potential disruptions to the organization co Resource allocator-deciding how resources will be distrib