If you are a manager and want to learn how to be an even better manager, it pays to develop your own theory about what the job entails. This goes deeper than a simple job description. If you want to know how to manage people exceptionally well, try to distil it into the core beliefs.
Beliefs shape your automatic behaviour. As a manager, you don’t have time to think about everything you do, which is why it is important to build a robust base of beliefs before you get too set in your ways.
Here are five which I think are vitally important when you areresponsible for managing people. Read them, think about them, and then rise to the challenge at the end of this article.
Your job is to…
- Help people find solutions. You don’t have to solve all the problems. The more you fix problems, the more dependent they will be. Empowering people to perform is very motivational and will progressively allow you to focus your time and energy on other things.
- Be the expert at making things happen. You don’t have to have all the answers. It is pretty old school to believe the boss is the one who knows the most. That is rarely the case these days and increasingly impossible to achieve.
- Represent your team’s interests in the wider organisation. You should worry about other things that are happening which could affect the work of your team. You need to work to protect them, and also promote them (not yourself). The better your team brand and visibility, the more successful you will be. And your team will love it and work even harder for you.
- Support your team members to do their job. Turn the organisation chart upside down. You are now at the bottom. You exist simply to help them achieve the team goals. If you are doing something which doesn’t help that purpose, why? What can you do to help them do a better job?
- Watch the bigger picture. Don’t bother with micromanaging your team and try to control every detail — they’ll hate you for it. Delegate, empower and let them do their job. You need to focus on making sure that all the different elements of your team are working together effectively without bumping into each other.
Management is never as simple as a list of five beliefs, and there are many different types of work, companies and managers. This is just a list of beliefs that I think are very important in general terms.
The Challenge
Identify beliefs which are more important to you succeeding in your job today and are better than the ones I have listed. See if you can replace them and come up with your own personal set of five. When you’ve done that, just live true to them!
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