To Be or Not To Be; A Manager

To be or Not to Be.........a manager is the question. After a few years starting off in any job, most people ask the question, should I become a manager or continue to be an individual contributor?
In some countries, taking the role of a manager is not only prestigious but also the only way to grow one's compensation. In other countries such as in the U.S, a solid individual contributor can not only rake in the cash like any other manager but also is accepted and respected in the organization. What are the primary qualities to be a good manager? Am I cut out for it? Can I learn to be a good manager? Successful managers guide their team members to achieving a common set of business goals by respecting their opinions, acting promptly on the feedback and sharing the stage with the team.

LISTEN: Earning the trust of each team member is probably the most important trait to be a good manager. The first step to building trust is respecting each member's opinion. Accepting the fact that each member has a valid contribution to make, whether it agrees with the managers or not, is absolutely critical. Building an environment where each employee is open to offering their own perspective on how to improve their organization will prove to be utterly useful in the long term. I remember the days when I was a marketing manager and used to walk in to the CEO's office to provide him my perspective on how to improve his communication to the employees. Having gained his respect, I was often provided a chance to review his emails to employees prior to publishing it. There is no better organization that one where each employee feels the ownership to provide direct feedback to their managers without thinking one second on the possibility of a repercussion. LISTENing is an important skill that every manager needs to develop over one's career. Learn to LISTEN WITHOUT BIAS.

ACT: Once an environment to accept each member's opinion has been created, it is important for the manager to ACT on the feedback at the earliest. There is no worse insult to the team when the manager acts on his own impulse disregarding the feedback provided by the team members. I distinctly remember one CEO to whom I was reporting to felt insulted when provided feedback and took diametrically opposite direction just to prove that he could act on his own. The company disintegrated into a political mess in less than 1 year where employees realized that it is better for their career to provide inputs that the manager would agree on rather than provide inputs that would be publicly derided upon. A manager who can be trusted to ACT on feedback develops a deep TRUST with the employees and tends to develop an organization where employees focus more on getting work done rather than jousting for political limelight. First listen then ACT PROMPTLY.

SHARE: A true manager will not only listen and act on feedback from the team but also willing to share the stage with each of the team member. Sharing is never easy. I have seen very few managers in my few decades of work experience who are eager to share the limelight with their team members. Over 70% of the employees that I interviewed for this blog were 100% sure that their managers provided no credit to their work or ideas when communicating to their managers. Managers should learn to let their guard down and provide credit to each of their employees in any forum. It brings out the fact that the manager cares for his/her employees and therefore strengthens the bond between the manager and his/her team members. SHARE WITH DELIGHT.

There is no doubt that an organization with managers who listen, act and share will not only be most productive but also provide an environment where the employees will develop an enduring and fulfilling career. The best managers go the extra mile in helping their members achieve their personal goals by aligning the personal needs with the organization's.

If you are already a manager or would like to be one, just remember to LISTEN to each employee, ACT based on what you have heard and SHARE the stage and your knowledge with your team. If you are running an organization , make sure that the managers are assigned enough TIME to MANAGE their people. It is already very hard for a first time manager to leave his/her ego behind and HELP his team. The organization must support and understand the time required to manage a team.

Don't be just Average; Be the Best

Over the last 20 years or so that I have been a part of the high technology industry, I have been lucky to work with some of the best in the industry. I had always wondered what makes them successful. A successful engineer has the capability to build some really cool products that have lasting effect on consumers and successful businessmen build great companies that stand the test of time. Typically, these successful people have high energy, great confidence in their abilities, positive attitude that keeps their head above water and most importantly their ability to excel in their area of focus. They are not another 'average' Joe but are the 'BEST' in their fields. That should be obvious. Now, the question is: What does it take to be the BEST? Assuming there is a need for your talent, being the best is a confluence of 'who you are', 'what you would like to do' and 'how much effort you put in'. Let us take this one at a time and understand it better.

Who are you? Now, that is a question that people try to get answered in a lifetime. Let us keep it focused on 'who you are' for a successful career as that would identify what you may naturally incline towards. Let me give you an example from my own life. Having graduated from one of the top engineering schools in India, followed that up with a graduate degree in electrical engineering and worked in the high technology industry for over 20 years, you must be thinking that I am an analytical wizard with capabilities to solve any mathematical problem at the back of a paper napkin. However, I have always been less analytical but more conceptual, creative, innovative, visionary, empathic, social and want to be less bothered with the details but more interested in the results. That's indeed the reason why I wandered towards marketing, business development and dealing with human resources. Tools such as MBTI, Emergenetics and AVA offer a way to understand your inner slant and what you would be 'innately' good at. However, as I did, you can figure that out yourself by being true to yourself and understanding what you are good at and most importantly what you are not good at.

Once you have understood your real self (I am talking like a yogi here) and having accepted on what you are good at and what are you not, it is time to take the next step to being the best. What you want to do (or) what would you like to do? What career will bring out the best in you? What profession utilizes most of who you really are and less of who you really are not are? These are not easy questions to answer for most people, especially if you are at the beginning of your career. Ask this question to yourself: What would you like to be doing 24/7 if you had the option to pursue? Be realistic. Most of us need a career to make money. The question is whether you can make money and lots of them by pursuing something you really want to do and that you are innately good at. Think within your confines. Establish boundary conditions if you would like to be realistic.

Having figured out 'who you are' and 'what you really like doing', the next step is simple....Work hard. If you really enjoy what you are doing and it is aligned with who you are and what you want to be doing, you should be spending an enormous amount of time living your dream. There is no substitute to hard work. In this boundryless globalized world, I am sure there is someone in another part of the world who's pursuing the same dream but putting in more effort that you are. The best in the world did not achieve their dreams thinking about it. They worked hard to accomplish it. Accomplishments needs effort and that too a lot of it.

As a manager in your profession or as a dad to your kids, it is important to educate them on these basic principles to be the BEST. Identify early on who you are, what you want to do and work hard to be the best. DON'T BE JUST AVERAGE, BE THE BEST.