You will fail…you will enjoy success too…but you WILL fail and when you do it will be the very best instruction you will ever get in Management. Don’t shy away from it, don’t hide or try and sweep it under the carpet, just face it head-on.
Humility
To be good at this management thing, you have to be grounded, comfortable in the knowledge that you are not perfect but determined to be better. It is that sense of humility that defines the good managers from the average ones.
Humility does not mean you are introverted, that you don’t believe in your own ability or that you lack commitment. It just means that you are both honest and realistic about yourself and your performance. It is only from this position that you can effectively learn and improve as a manager.
Having Doubts is Normal
The thing about management is that it’s visceral…you feel it in your gut. You will read a lot of management theory but when you experience it, it is physical, psychological and emotional all at once. It is not unusual to have doubts. In fact managers should have doubts. If you are not thinking through and questioning strategy, decisions and actions, then you are probably not doing your job. But when it is time for decision and action, you have to have the confidence to go forward with conviction. As any experienced manager will tell you, there are times when this is not as easy as it sounds. The leaders/manager’s job can be a pretty lonely one sometimes, and in difficult situations you have to face the fact that it is your call and you are going to be accountable.
Be True to Yourself
As we have said in the opening, you will have both success and failure. This will sometimes bring undeserved compliments and undue criticism. Treat both impartially. Focus only on your performance as a manager and take council from those you trust. Most of all…most of all… stay true to yourself.
What to do when you fail:
1. Admit it!
2. Find out why?
3. Get some advice or input from others
4. Speak to the team and explain.
a. Here’s what happened.
b. Here’s why I think it happened.
c. Here’s what I intend to do about it
Parting thought…
There is a terrific quote from Jesse Martin, the young Melbourne yachtsman, who at 18 became the youngest person to sail around the world non stop and unassisted. Facing his own fears over and over again on a treacherous and unforgiving open sea, he managed to find a way to come through. “When it comes to the crunch, the proverbial fork in the road, you ask yourself, what do I stand for? Do I not believe in myself, and be a useless human being or go for it and do what I believe?” If I believe more in the critics than I do in me, then I may as well not be alive, because there is no ‘me’ anymore.”
Have a great week.
Mark Bragg & Martin West
