It’s not easy being a manager these days. You’re responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, coaching, modeling, engaging, monitoring, motivating, anticipating, prioritizing, planning, evaluating, clarifying, adapting, envisioning, directing, disciplining, reinforcing, reporting, recognizing, budgeting, and building alliances. And that’s all before lunch. And if you struggle with just one, your reports will say you’re over your head.
Many new leaders are thrust into supervisory positions quickly, with no real management training to speak of. So as you would expect, they make lots of mistakes. Here are a few of the most common. Hopefully, just being aware of them will help you and your colleagues do things differently!
If you’re a leader, you probably already have the time-honored “business smarts” for the job, namely the intellectual capability and technical skill.
Those are important. But they’re only the base line. Numerous studies have shown that what distinguishes outstanding leaders from average ones are emotional self-awareness and self-control.
Do you know your Why? The purpose, cause, or belief that inspires you to do what you do. Simon Sinek's short video How great leaders inspire action can help you learn your Why.
Management is all about connecting with the people on your team. So how do you effectively manage a team? With common knowledge, of course. These are a few back-to-basics rules that will help you develop management skills that really matter.
If you have room in your head for only one nugget of leadership wisdom, make it this one: the most powerfully motivating condition people experience at work is making progress at something that is personally meaningful. If your job involves leading others, the implications are clear: the most important thing you can do each day is to help your team members experience progress at meaningful work.
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