If you could start again as a manager...
All in the title really. For those experienced managers, if you could start over again, what would you do differently?
All in the title really. For those experienced managers, if you could start over again, what would you do differently?
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If I could start again I would certainly have got some proper management training and a qualification much earlier on in my career.
I had a number of different operational and client service roles during my 20's but in my early 30's I was asked to take responsibility for setting up a new business unit within the multi-national organisation I worked for. All of a sudden I found that I needed to hire and manage people, deal with strange speadsheets called budgets that the finance team sent me, think about a sales and marketing strategy as well as develop an operational plan. Nobody told me how to do any of this. My own manager was focussed on other more pressing problem areas of the business so the practical support I got from her was minimal.
Through a combination of luck and good judgement I was very successful but looking back having now undertaken some structured management training I can see so many things that I could have done much better if only I had had a basis understanding of some simple management principles and techniques. These would have produced even better outcomes for me, my team and my employer.
Hi Kevin,
Was n't this approach very prevalent in business say a decade ago? as it is often a cost effective method of achieving the required result in the short term, as an observation I suspect with formal training you would have gained far more personally though!
regards Mike
Hi Mike,
I think you are right. In the 90's many organisation's had not yet woken up to the real value of management development leaving many new managers like myself to find things out the hard way. I think things have certainly improved since then but CMI research indicates that only 1 in 5 of managers have a formal qualification in management so there's still a long way to go!
Thanks,
Kevin
The best advise I can give to anyone starting out is to make sure you enjoy what you do. There's so much talk these days about work life balance and all that, I think it's vital that we enjoy what we do.
The best advice I would probably give is to implement decisions in a manner you are comfortable with. Don't try to copy/ mimic what other people do necessarily. Taking the step to become a new manager is challenging and stressful enough - why create more!!
My advice would be that you're there to manage resources, whether that's people, money, or other assets. Being a good manager is about optimising the resources you have available to you. It shouldn't be a power trip or a means to bully people.
If I started off again I would seek the support of a mentor to help me test my thinking and actions, build confidence and act as a 'critical friend'.
There's probably lots I'd do differently and I love the post above suggesting getting a mentor - I'd support that one, really valuable resource.
For me I think it would be to trust my instincts more instead of looking to bosses and senior managers assuming they knew what they were doing! I probably also tried too hard to impress my bosses when I should have been trying harder to inspire the people I was managing, ah well - that was then .....
I would try to be more efficient in how I set things up. I'd actually look to go down more of a freelance route than taking on actual staff, but perhaps that's indicative of me not being all that good at managing!
I would listen more and talk less if I was starting again.
Don't take the job just for the money. Think about how the role fits into your long term career plan and development. Be brave enough to walk away if it doesn't.
I'd get into staff management earlier. I tried to avoid it as I thought it was a hiding to nothing. I then suddenly had to manage a team of 6 with oversight of ~100. And actually, I really enjoy it!
I would always stop and think before discussing anything with anybody.
Invest time developing your team and only hire people who are better than you were at that stage in your career.
I'm going to buck the trend - at 34 I'm not all the 'manager' I'll ever be nor am I all the manager I want to be - I aspire to be a better manager tomorrow than I am today.
I think I'm more likely to become 'all the manager I'll ever be' and less likely to become the manager I aspire to be but that won't deter me from trying to be a little better each day.
I'll get there through learning and reflection and everything I've done during my career to date, I've done with the best of intentions and a clear conscience - I've learned from things that have worked and those that haven't; I've learned from good managers I've worked with and bad ones too and I think it takes a bit of balance to be truly valuable.
Kevin's comments resonate with me as I was in my 1st line management position for less than a year when I decided to take on management studies and graduated from OUBS.
I'd recommend taking on a management qualification early and always be guided by your principles and always be honest.
If you're true to yourself and honest with your colleagues, you need never worry.
I would love to have known about the CMI when I started off. Rather than being an accidental manager, I'd have acquired the best skills right from the start. I would have insisted on more formal and ongoing training. Apart from that, I would have thought more about teamwork rather than trying to do everything myself.