The Practice of Management

Whether new, mid-level, or long-term in their role, every manager deserves to have every tool available to them to be successful in their position. Every manager deserves to have the opportunity to decide what type of manager they would like to become. Then they should have the resources to become that manager. Managers go through several transitions throughout their careers. They may get additional staff, a new team, transferred, additional responsibilities, a new boss, a merger, a reduction in staff, new products, new technology, or new policies/procedures. Those are some of the possible internal transitions. What about the external transitions. Life changes, such as getting married, getting divorced, health issues, have kids, kids leaving home, kids health issues, taking care of a sick or elderly parent, to name a few. These all can be considered transitions for a person and the role of manager.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Let’s face it; no one ever grows up saying they want to be a manager. At least very few do. You have dreams and ambitions. You, of course, want more. You want to be recognized for your skills and abilities, and you want to grow in your organization. You want to succeed in your career. You may want to (and I’m hesitant to use the word) be a Leader (more on that later).

You may want to grow into a leadership position. Hopefully, you want to develop your skills. That is human nature. Some may not want more of the typical management role inside an organization. They may be satisfied doing the work that they do. Examples of this are people working in mission-driven organizations, such as; people working in mental health fields or medical fields, or even hands-on technical workers, such as car mechanics, plumbers, electricians, to name a few.

Even for those of you who may not want to manage people and grow within an organization, there are skills that you will need that will be incredibly helpful to manage themselves and their jobs. 

New Mindset, New Result

You have to begin to think about management differently, both on the individual and organizational levels. While it is a position you hold, you have to start thinking about management as a practice. Just like we should consider leadership as a practice, these are not skills and behaviors we learn one time. These are skills and behaviors that need constant practice to master.

As you master one skill, you can then learn how to take it to the next level. You most likely will never reach perfection as a manager or leader. I say this simply because you are human. You will make mistakes. You will get distracted. You will become overwhelmed at times. You will have to learn new policies, procedures, and technical skills. In other words, you are not perfect and to strive for that is a set up for failure. You should, however, strive for being great, excellent, and outstanding in the role.

What Skills are Necessary?

So what are the necessary skills and behaviors? First, let’s not call them soft skills. Let’s call them what they are. They are essential skills or interpersonal skills. There is nothing soft about these skills. When you look up the word soft, you will see descriptors such as easy to mold, not hard, or not firm. The skills you need are anything but easy to mold; they should not only be challenging but should become habits, harden in your skillset, and unflappable. Nothing should be able to penetrate your skills. While they can be learned, they need to be practiced and practiced and practiced some more. They need to be ingrained into your personality, and they need to become who you are. These skills are the opposite of soft.

What are the essential skills that every successful manager should have? While there are lots of skills and behaviors we could talk about, here are the top 10. As time goes on, I will be talking about additional ones, but these will be a good start and essential. 

1. Identifying who you are as a manager – Personal/Professional Values
2. Communication
3. Crucial Conversations
4. Listening
5. Team Building
6. Delegation
7. Critical Thinking
8. Motivation
9. Coaching
10. Providing Feedback- Performance Management
11. Task Management (Productivity)

What skills do you need to work on? Which ones have you been working on? Let us know in the comments.