By the end of the year, any executive worth his salt can doubtlessly produce a list as long as his arm of errors committed, strategies misused and opportunities fumbled.

There is precious little he can do about what is past. But he can resolve to learn from his failures and vow to make the coming year his best ever.

How about you? Was 1969 all you hoped it would be…or, given another chance, could you improve?

Good News!

Another chance is coming up…and its name is 1970.

In what areas, precisely, could you do better? If you can answer that one, you have your work cut out for you in the upcoming year. On the other hand, if you only have a vague feeling of having missed the boat on occasion in 1969 but can't quite pinpoint where or why, what follows may be inestimable value to you…a brief examination of those areas where most executives tend to fall down, either from the daily pressures that go with managing others or from having involuntarily strayed from the basics of effective management.

Your personal blueprint for a successful 1970, herewith.

Cultivate the Personal Touch

As always, your major challenge in 1970 is likely to be attracting and holding on to the best people. The next year…and decade…will be marked by a scarcity of skilled labor in virtually every field and the executive who succeeds will be the one who gets, and keeps, the personnel who can do their jobs best. Some suggestion for improving your human relations:

Get to know your people. Every successful executive knows that one important secret of effective management is to treat his people as individuals. But if you want to treat people as individuals, you must get to know them as individuals.

This means searching for…and identifying…the broad outlines of their personalities by looking for typifying characteristics. What is there about Ray Jones that makes him different from others? What are his particular traits, his basic attitudes, his special sensitivities, his deep-seated needs and feelings? These are the questions you must ask yourself in order to understand the human complex called Ray Jones.

Here are some ways to get the answers.

Talk with him. No one can tell you more about a person than that person himself. So talk with him, particularly at the chit-chat level. That's when guards are dropped and the real person comes through. Avoid turning a conversation into an inquisition, however, for stock questions trigger stock replies. Be especially alert for tips to a man's goals in life, his current problems, how he feels about his job, his fellow workers, his family. And listen to him…carefully.

Be observant. Study his actions, his behavior, how he handles himself. Search for what is unique about the way he tackles a problem, reacts to criticism, follows through on an assignment.

Let him know you. Mutual trust is based on mutual knowledge. If a man sees only a boss when he looks at you, instead of a human being who has ideas, conviction and peculiarities of his own, he will permit you to see only the worker in him. This doesn't mean that you must tell him how you intend to vote or how much money you have in the bank. It does mean. "Be yourself." In turn, he'll be himself.

Learn how to praise them. Most managers are aware of the tact required in criticizing a subordinate, but precious few give much thought to the techniques of praise. It would seem the easiest thing in the world to pat a man on the back. But there is more to it than meets the eye.

First, praise should be meaningful. If you praise indiscriminately and at the least provocation, your kudos lose meaning…and effect. Don't be like the Hollywood producer who calls everyone "Darling." Nobody really believes him.

Second, avoid superlatives. "The best"…"without parallel"…most amazing thing I've ever seen." Few people fall for this kind of blarney. Far better to say, "Couldn't have done better myself"…"You were never better"…"Good work."

Finally, don't be miserly with your praise. While too frequent praise can become meaningless, praise doled out reluctantly hurts morale, too. If a man is doing his level best and comes through in a pinch…even if unspectacularly…let him know that his efforts are appreciated.

Make your people want to do things. The man who gets result through others is the man who leads without driving. People do things reluctantly for a drive because he forces them into it. They do their jobs enthusiastically for a leader because he makes them want to follow his wishes. How? By showing them that doing their jobs will, in some way, benefit them…e.g., they will receive proper recognition, material reward, sense of accomplishment.