Find your management superpower

Richard Mortimer MCMI used to pride himself on his assertiveness and communication skills. He believed communication was just “getting the message across” and had always seen it as one of his strengths. He’s technical services manager in media and communications at Staffordshire University, after all. 

But following 360-degree feedback and conversations with colleagues, as well as insights from the CMI Management Diagnostics tool, he soon realised it wasn’t quite as simple as he thought.

“Two interesting, conflicting things came out from various feedback and self-assessment tools, which really surprised me,” Richard says. “Colleagues said I didn’t hold back with my opinions and I was possibly over-assertive at times. Yet within conflict management, I wasn’t assertive enough.

“I suppose I used to take a bit of a backseat around conflict until situations escalated,” he admits. “I’d only get involved if there was a significant issue, because I believed people should be able to sort things out themselves. But I subsequently discovered that people actually appreciated earlier intervention.”

Identifying your strengths and weaknesses like Richard did is an important part of any manager’s personal development. But it’s not straightforward. How can you know what you don’t know? Arming yourself with insights, whether from self-reflection, asking those around you or using an online tool, allows you to change your approach – and ultimately transform those weaknesses into superpowers.

• How dyslexia became my management superpower 

Richard has changed the way he approaches conflict: he now addresses potentially difficult situations much earlier by initiating positive dialogue to bring about effective resolutions. “It sounds obvious now, but staging earlier interventions actually prevents a lot of conflict in the first place”.