Interpersonal skills: the cornerstone of good leadership at all levels. In every organization, there are managers at different levels. Front-line managers interact with employees on a daily basis; lead teams at deck plate level. Middle managers supervise front-line managers and report to senior executives who are responsible for the overall direction of a company and its future potential. According to Organizational Behavior by Griffin and Moorhead, each level of management requires technical, interpersonal, conceptual, and diagnostic skills. What's interesting is that each level of management is different, so each requires more emphasis on one skill over another (Griffin-Moorhead p12). While I agree that excellent technical skills are more important at the front-line manager level than at the senior management level, I disagree with the authors that interpersonal skills are less important as we move up the chain. Additionally, I believe this skill is unique in itself and should not be in the same category as others as stated in our text. Interpersonal skills are the ability to “communicate with, understand and motivate individuals” and, in my opinion, are extremely important if one is to achieve organizational behavior at any level (Griffin-Moorhead P10). Although the requirements for conceptual, diagnostic and technical skills fluctuate at different levels, I believe that interpersonal skills always remain important at each level of management. Using Frank Blake, CEO of Home Depot, as an example, he demonstrates how interpersonal skills are just as important at the senior management level and proves that they are the cornerstone of any great manager's leadership. The definition of management is “the ability to obtain results”. ...... middle of paper ......, middle and senior managers can only benefit from using good interpersonal skills, after all, it's what ties everything else together. Works Cited Griffin, R. and Moorhead, G. (2010). Organizational Behavior (9th ed.). Mason: Southwest. Hill, C and McShane, S. (2008). Management principles. McGraw-Hill. Davis Alison, CEO (2010). Employee Morale: Leading from the Bottom Up. World of Communication, Vol. 27. 22-226. http://egandb.uas.alaska.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=48609142&site=bsi-liveTobin, R (2010). Frank Blake Home Depots, calmer in chief. Seattle Times.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012783334_homedepotprofilte05.htmlBusiness Week Staff. (2008). The best managers of 2008. New York: Bloomberg.http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/01/0108_best_worst/4.htm