How confident are you as a manager?
What situations make you feel a little unsure, uncomfortable or less confident about how to handle?
For the new manager, being thrust into suddenly having responsibility for achieving through others can feel daunting, intimidating or overwhelming. (Particularly when some of those "others" may be people you used to work alongside).
Even for the manager who has been managing for years, with the ever-changing market place, new technologies and a more diverse range of ages and cultures in your workplace, there are likely to be many situations which leave you feeling a little nervous or unsure.
Way back in my career as a teacher, I remember standing nervously in front of 30 expectant, intelligent, articulate individuals, all waiting to see how well I would perform, how successfully I could engage them, and how much of a "pushover" I was going to be!
Did it make my knees knock a little? You bet!
Later, as I took my first tentative steps towards mentoring, coaching and managing others in industry, I would feel those same feelings: nervousness; worried about my ability to manage what could be some quite tricky situations; concern about how others might perceive me and just a little vulnerable - did I know enough to do this job well?
Where do managers feel a lack of confidence?
There are three key areas which many managers report are the most tricky for them. What are they?
1. Managing others who have higher qualifications than you or who are qualified in a different discipline.
2. Influencing peers or external stakeholders where you have no direct authority, but good working relationships with these people are fundamental to good performance.
3. Managing upwards. Whew is this a biggie! In many of the workshops I run, when I ask people to think of who they most want to be more effective at managing, a staggering proportion of those attending include their immediate line manager or higher in their top 3.
Each of these situations requires both consummate communication skills and a high degree of self-confidence.
So, what does a manager need to do to increase their confidence in these, or any other, "tricky" situations?
5 keys to building your self-confidence as a manager:
1. Do what you believe to be right - even if others mock or criticise you for it. From the moment you take on any management role, others are looking at you to see what kind of a manager you are going to be. Just as those children were "sussing me out" in the classroom all those years ago, your staff are doing the same with you. How you behave sets the scene for everything else.
This is about two things really: a) Getting absolutely clear about what's really important to you, in terms of what needs to be accomplished, and what attitudes and behaviours you expect. Think of it as creating your own vision of "how we do things around here".
b) When it comes to core values about how people work together you never compromise. In all else, you are open to suggestion and influence. In recent studies, outstanding managers, with the highest performing, most committed teams, all had crystal clear ideas about the kind of culture they wanted to create, and what was important to them - and they communicated this to everyone they worked with and gained "buy in" from all key stakeholders.
When you feel clear and comfortable about what's really important to you, and everything you do demonstrates this, even if others don't always agree with you, they will respect your integrity, trust you, and know where they stand. Chances are you'll have fewer tricky situations in future too!
2. Realise you don't have to know it all. There's a very interesting video on "You-Tube" which really demonstrates the almost frightening pace of change which affects business today. Check out Karl Fisch's "Shift Happens" when you have a moment.
For now, it's useful to see your role, not as being an "expert" at a particular subject, but rather an "expert" at helping to facilitate the expertise of others!
Instead of being intimidated by someone who seems more qualified than you, ask yourself: "How can I utilise this expertise for the benefit of the individual, the team, and the organisation?"
When you focus on what you can do to help others help you achieve the overall goals, not only do you get better results, you develop an awesome reputation as a highly skilled leader.
Every really successful CEO I've ever come across sees others' expertise and ambition as an opportunity - not a threat! The best managers just need to know how to engage smart people to get the job done.
3. Be willing to take risks, and go the extra mile to achieve things Building your own sense of personal power and influence comes from being willing to take risks yourself; from facing your fears, and dealing with what you know needs to be done.
At a personal level, if you don't face the underperforming member of staff, for example, because you don't feel confident to deal with it, you become trapped and nothing will be resolved until something forces the situation. Your confidence is likely to decrease even more as time goes on. Meanwhile, don't kid yourself others aren't noticing. They are. And this will further dent your confidence.
4. Admit your mistakes - and learn from them This really follows on from tip number 3.
If you're going to be willing to take risks - you won't always get it right! However, as long as you learn from that mistake, you will be ready to try something different, and each time you do, you'll increase your confidence. And if you create a culture where others see it's OK to make mistakes, you'll build the confidence of your staff too!
5. Give credit to others We all know people who are expert at extolling their own virtues! Individuals who have a high level of self-esteem and confidence don't need to shout about their accomplishments.
Don't feel the need to shout about what you've done, or what you know. Instead, give others the limelight at every opportunity. Whether you're managing up, down or across, think of how you can help others to excel, and you are more likely to be rewarded with excellence.
And when you achieve excellent results, allow yourself a pat on the back, accept any compliments about how well you managed those diverse individuals gracefully, and get excited about the next challenges!
Copyright (c) 2010 Shona Garner
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