Posts Tagged ‘successful management’

From the outside looking in, leading and managing can seem really easy.  How many times have you heard people who are not leading or managing anyone talk about how they could do a much better job?  Probably quite a few if you have been around in organisations for some time.  The reality is that when it is done well, leading and managing others can appear easy.  On the other hand what are 5 truths you need to keep at the forefront of your mind?

 

Truth 1: It is a lonely existence

 

When your role involves delivering results with fewer and fewer resources and lots of people with differing agendas, leading and managing can sometimes be quite a lonely existence.  After all there are always people senior to you with expectations as well as those that you lead or manage.  It can sometimes feel like you don’t have anyone to turn to.  This is why it is vital to build up some sort of support network.

 

Truth 2: Every choice will be unpopular with someone

 

People know on some level that you need to weigh up the options in each situation and take on balance what seems like the best decision from the choices available.  Despite this they will still react with some form of resistance in some cases when things do not go their way.  To address this cut yourself some slack and recognise you cannot please everyone all of the time.

 

Truth 3: People have short memories

 

You might have been the model boss for the last two years but you go through a sticky patch when you are struggling to get folks on board and move things forward.  Superiors in particular often have short memories so make sure that when your performance is being reviewed a balanced picture is presented.

 

Truth 4: You will mess it up at times

 

Every single one of us makes mistakes from time.  Few of these are terminal and it is important not to let mistakes stop you from taking balanced risks in the knowledge that you will sometimes get it wrong.  Clean up the mess, reflect and learn and then move on.  You cannot change the past but you can influence the future.

 

Truth 5: You are leading and managing for a reason

 

You were promoted into a leadership and management role because people believed that you had something to offer, not because they wanted to be nice to you and do you a favour.  When self doubt appears remind yourself of all the brilliant things you do and focus on looking for ways to do even better.

 

Bottom Line- Leading and managing is challenging but don’t let temporary setbacks get in the way of your long term success.

 

 

 

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to become highly effective leaders and managers.  For more information click here

While doing one of my regular sessions at the gym recently it occurred to me that there were many things that we can learn about leading and managing from the way we approach and what we do when it comes to working out.

 

So what are the key things that we can learn about leadership and management success from our gym workouts?

 

We need to have a goal

 

Most of us decided to join the gym for a specific reason.  It might have been to lose weight, build our stamina, help manage our stress levels, fun or just to maintain good health.  If we want to achieve success as a leader or manager we need to have clear goals.

 

Start small and build from that point

 

I can remember when I first ever went to the gym about 10 years ago.  The training plan I had was focused on doing a little bit on a range of exercises.  I did not try and jump straight to wild challenges in terms of times on the cardio machines and the weights I was lifting.  When new in post as a leader or manager, don’t try to go for glory from the outset, focus on achieving some easy wins.

 

It’s a long term project

 

When you start something new, especially exercise, you tend to find that you get pretty dramatic improvement initially, you plateau and then seem to struggle to get up to the next level.  As a leader or manager chances are that you will make some quick improvements and during the first couple of months it can feel like you are on the crest of a wave.  However, what you are really looking for is sustained success over the long term, so view leading and managing as a long term project.

 

We all need to do maintenance

 

When working out we know that it is important to do our stretching if we are to avoid injury or damage.  Most managers and leaders started in a particular professional discipline.  Even if you have a broader role now, it is vital that you maintain your knowledge and keep your skills up to date through continuing professional development.

 

 

Bottom Line – Just like working out, your aim as a manager or leader is to achieve long term sustained success.  So what do you need to start focusing on to achieve more success?

 

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to be successful managers and leaders.  For more information about his Services and Programmes click here

As a manager you have to deal with all types of people from all walks of life with different, attitudes and motivations.  The challenge therefore is to be as aware as you can be about the people you manage so that you can interact with them appropriately and achieve the best results.

 

The people that you manage are likely to fall into one of following behavioural zones as a default.  This does not mean they are always in this zone but the default is their natural preference.

 

Analytical

 

The people who are in the analytical zone as their default will be motivated and really keen on quality.  The analytical types tend to work best when dealing with facts.

 

Drivers

 

As the name suggests the people whose default zone is driver tend to be action orientated folks.  They get their spark not by getting into action and getting things done.

 

Amiables

 

The big focus for the amiables is on relationships.  They are motivated by co-operating and working with others.

 

Expressives 

 

The expressives tend to be at the other of the scale from the analytical folks in that they are very much interested in the big picture.

 

Chances are that you will be able to recognise some people that you manage that fit really neatly into one category or another and some that flit a bit more between more than one category.  The value of understanding which zone people tend to operate in is that as a manager:

 

1. You can choose strategies for motivating that are really going to motivate.  For example, asking a driver to reflect is probably just going to leave them confused. 
2. You can adapt your management style to the person you are interacting with so that it fits and hits a chord with the other person. 
3. You get better at seeing and appreciating different perspectives or ways of looking at things. 
4. You are open to taking on board and understanding different takes on issues which helps you deliver better results.

 

Bottom Line – Success as a manager is as much about understanding others as it is what you do personally.  So what do you need to do to create more success as a manager?

 

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to become highly effective managers and leaders.  For more information about services and programme click here

A recent survey by the International Coach Federation identified that the number one reason why people choose to work with a coach is due to a lack of self confidence.  Someone who is self confident can sometimes be viewed by others who are less confident as arrogant.  Yet in truth self confidence is really about having a strong sense of self worth and capabilities.

If you are a manager, your success or otherwise is influenced by factors such as:

• Knowing that that you have the capability or competence (or can acquire it) to take on and deal with the challenges that without doubt will arise.

• Speaking up an airing your views even when they might be slightly controversial.

• Being able to take decisions even when you might not have all of the information at your fingertips that you might need or like.

• Getting other to provide support to get things done or make change.

A manager lacking self confidence is likely to have some traits or develop traits that get in the way, including:

• Being indecisive, procrastinating and failing to move things forward.

• Going with the consensus when deep down you know it is not going to produce results.

• Avoiding taking any risks that could lead to a step change in performance.

•  Being focused on surviving rather than thriving.

Bottom Line – You can have an abundance of self confidence and at the same time still be the manager who delivers great results and has the full support of the team.  So what’s stopping you succeed?