Being a manager and leading a team is one of the biggest career challenges. This path leads the way to expertise appreciation and personal achievement. Being the boss goes well beyond the supervision of daily operations. Therefore, the decision of moving from a position of employee to being a manager deserves a good reflection. Over time, Adecco has defined a vision of management based on the person rather than the skills. The following summary provides food for thoughts on the motivations to become a manager.
The secret of good management
For several years, Adecco experimented a different kind of management. To act as manager in this organization, an employee must understand the following principles:
- Courage;
- Humility;
- Generosity;
- Awareness of self and others.
While these qualities are far from what is generally required in a manager position, they remain key ingredients in making tough decisions, staying in control during difficult times and uplifting employees while remaining out of the way or guiding them without wanting to please them at any cost.
On a daily basis, courage manifests itself in the determination to address the other with the desire to see him evolve even with delicate subjects. Of course, a boss should not see his employees as a threat and want to keep them at a certain level. On the contrary! He should have the courage to remain consistent with his values and act according to his own beliefs, and those of his team. In short, be strong.
When interacting with employees, the new boss discusses in all humility the fact that he has to learn from them. When time comes to celebrate achievements, he can reward the appropriate persons instead of taking the merit. Humility also helps the manager when he must acknowledge his mistakes, which creates an atmosphere of trust and transparency. Through this confidence, employees can see that making mistakes is accepted at work.
Of course a boss must care about his employees first because his role is to mobilize them and put them in action. To achieve this, generosity is necessary as a generous manager cares about his team rather than his own benefits. In short, he is there to serve and not treat himself. Generous of his time and ears, he knows that he must give to receive.
Still according to Adecco, a talented manager isconscious of himself and of others. If only by hierarchy, he must be aware of his influence on people around him. Managing by example while being himself are essential factors in healthy management. A boss who can roll up his sleeves and do what he asks from his employees is in a better position to understand their reality.
The daily life of a manager
- Dealing with difficult staff. Taking on his shoulders everything that is wrong. Resolving complicated issues. Managing arguments. Living with a good dose of stress. Is that really the life of a future manager? It all depends on the point of view.
- According to Adecco, a manager must first and foremost make himself available for employees who need him. When conflicts arise, he should not play judge, instead, he should use this opportunity to make the persons concerned more responsible. If the conflict persists, then he should get involved.
- For the benefit of his team, the manager acts as the guardian of the long-tem vision. And when the organization goes through difficult times he becomes a beacon for his team and stays focused on that vision to keep the employees mobilized. Even in turmoil, he keeps leading peacefully in the same direction.
- Finally, the boss must behave like a conveyor belt when it is time to share information with his team. To reach their ears, he must choose the right method depending on the message. Individual meetings, team meetings, email or otherwise; the leader knows how to be sensitive and use the proper means of communication according to the message and context.
