So you want to be a manager….
Unless you are in some specialised field such as a doctor, a lawyer or a cab driver, your company will have some sort of organization chart where the one above you will be your manager. Perhaps the title might be misleading as there are many different titles floating around such as Team Leaders or Supervisors, it is all the same.
Let’s not talk about the roles where one has a title of a manager but does not have anyone reporting under. Let’s explore managers who need to manage people. This is a topic close to heart as I became a manager when I was very young and I have made a lot of mistakes along the way, silly mistakes but I quickly learnt never to make them twice and as a result, I grew quickly. I will share most of my mistakes in my website and what I learnt from them so you don’t have to make the same mistakes.
Most of us who wants to advance in our career, either a lateral move in the company (let’s be frank here, not a lot of companies out there would be willing to allow you to make a lateral move especially since they can promote within their department) or a vertical move which means to say usually it is a managerial or at least an assistant managerial position.
The question you need to ask yourself, are you suitable for managerial position?
Not everyone is suitable to manage a team of people. And you do not want to be the manager that everyone groans about. The following checklist will help you to realise whether you are suited to become a manager.
- Are you willing to sacrifice your time?
By sacrificing, I mean your own time without overtime pay. Managing a team does not mean you knock off the same time as your team does. In fact, you need to work harder and smarter to set a good example to your team. You will need to balance time for your team, checking in on their progress, bond with them and allow them to have the luxury to approach you as and when they need advice. This leaves not much time for your reports, emails and of course, plenty of meetings and conference calls. I’ll teach you on how to effectively manage your time in another article but I will admit it is easier said than done.
Jessie (*not her real name) from one of my previous companies was a newly promoted team manager. She was popular among her peers; bosses like her and her results were exceeding expectations until she got her promotion. Then she starts to go home 10mins before her end of shift, she starts taking longer lunches, she is always nowhere to be found and soon enough, her team results begin to slide drastically. When her teammates couldn’t find Jessie, they will approach other managers for advices or instant quick fixes. This in turn, has the team working towards in different directions and they soon lose trust in their own manager.
2. Are you intuitive towards others’ feelings?
If you are one of those who are emotionally sensitive to others, your life is a lot easier. You can instantly pick up something is wrong with a team member; it can be a personal problem or a work issue but most importantly is that you pick up the signals. Quickly identify the problem will help you to tackle it appropriately and not have the problem escalated affecting your team’s performance. Given the hierarchy behaviour instilled in Asians, it is unlikely a team member will voice out their displeasure in your face. In fact, there is a lot of guessing work in place.
When Jessie starts to take longer lunches, some of the teammates begin to copy her behaviour and thought that as long as my boss is doing it, I could do it too! The other teammates did not like what they see and did not understand why Jessie does not take any action against them. They concluded that Jessie is biased and begin to hold it against her silently. The team’s result begin to suffer from an average to a below average. Jessie couldn’t figure out what is wrong and when she did asked her team, no one wants to volunteer information. This continue for a couple of months before someone in the team called it quits, and then another someone, and another someone. Until, 6 months later, there was only a quarter of the original team left.
3. Are you willing to sacrifice for your team / cause / principle?
Sometimes, management comes down with a hard decision. Sometimes, these hard decisions are not easy to swallow. And some of these times, you need to act on the interest of your team. Or at least try to find a win win situation. If it is in the interest of your team to say no to the management, be prepared to reject your boss with of course, your facts and justifications armed and ready.
Depending on your boss, and largely depends on your justifications as well, you may just win the respect of your boss and your team if your reasons are strong and reasonable enough to say No. But don’t just say No, rejecting your management without an alternative solution is just plain negative. You can always turned the situation around to your advantage, I’ll show you how in another article.
4. Are you willing to teach?
Being a manager is also about guidance and mentoring. I have seen selfish managers who are so afraid of being overtaken that they withheld teaching. A good manager shouldn’t be wary about having someone underneath climbing up the corporate ladder, in fact, they should be proud that their guidance are taken seriously by someone. It actually represents a great leader you are when you have a team of members who outgrown their current positions and seek higher challenges within the company.
I love it when members of my team come to me and seek advices, and you see that they appreciate you taking time to listen and giving out appropriate advices. The greatest give back would be when they actually act out on your advices and it works for them.
So there you have it, the 4 basic points of being a manager. Yes, of course, being a good manager takes a lot more than that however, if you don’t have the 4 basics, you should seriously consider if leading a team is something you would want to explore in.
As for Jessie, she left the company after a year of struggles. Before she left, we did had the chance for a chat and she admitted to me that she had thought being a manager is easy, just delegating tasks for her team to do, she did not calculate in the human factor and how inept and overwhelming she felt as her team went from bad to worse and she is helplessly watching by the sidelines, her team drowning themselves. So I asked if she would still hanker for a managerial position in future? She scrunched her face up, I could see that this experience left a distaste in her mouth. Quoted from Jessie “I wished I had read up more or prepare myself more on how to manage someone better. Too little, too late did I realised I am playing God with someone else’s rice bowl.”
Hello to every body, it’s my first go to see of this website; this
website consists of remarkable and genuinely fine data designed for readers.
LikeLike
Good day! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room mate!
He always kept talking about this. I will forward this
article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read.
Thank you for sharing!
LikeLike
This site truly has all the information I needed about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
LikeLike
An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment.
There’s no doubt that that you need to publish more on this subject matter,
it might not be a taboo matter but typically people do not talk about
these topics. To the next! All the best!!
LikeLike
Hi, i read your blog from time to time and i own a
similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam feedback?
If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can advise?
I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any support is very much appreciated.
LikeLike
WordPress have widget to stop spam feedback. I use Akismet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Marvelous, what a blog it is! This blog presents helpful
data to us, keep it up.
LikeLike
Hi, just wanted to say, I loved this post. It was practical.
Keep on posting!
LikeLike
Aw, this was an extremely good post. Spending some time
and actual effort to produce a top notch article… but what can I say… I hesitate a
whole lot and never manage to get anything done.
LikeLike
Greate pieces. Keep posting such kind of info on your blog.
Im really impressed by your site.
Hello there, You’ve performed an excellent job. I’ll certainly digg it and individually suggest to my friends.
I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this website.
LikeLike
Awesome article.
LikeLike
Hmm it looks like your site ate my first comment
(it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum
it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing.
Do you have any tips and hints for first-time blog writers?
I’d certainly appreciate it.
LikeLike
Congrats on your new blog. If you want to discuss how to inmprove your blog traffic, I can drop you an email or you can email me at kally@middleme.net.
LikeLike
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve take into accout your stuff prior to and you’re
simply too wonderful. I really like what you’ve bought here, really like what
you are stating and the best way by which you say it. You are making it enjoyable and you
continue to take care of to stay it sensible. I can’t
wait to read far more from you. This is actually a great site.
LikeLike
Thank you and I am happy that you enjoy my writings.
LikeLike
I could not refrain from commenting. Well written!
LikeLike
Thanks, Bill.
LikeLike
It’s fantastic that you are getting thoughts from this piece of
writing as well as from our discussion made here.
LikeLike
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an extremely long comment
but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted
to say superb blog!
LikeLike
Thanks a lot!
LikeLike
Your means of explaining the whole thing in this piece of writing
is in fact pleasant, every one be capable of simply know
it, Thanks a lot.
LikeLike
I constantly spent my half an hour to read this webpage’s articles or reviews daily
along with a mug of coffee.
LikeLike
Thank you v much!
LikeLike
Hello i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anywhere, when i read this paragraph i thought i could also create comment due to
this good post.
LikeLike
Thanks, Kavin. I do hope you enjoy being here.
LikeLike
Tremendous issues here. I’m very glad to peer your
post. Thank you a lot and I am taking a look forward to touch you.
Will you please drop me a mail?
LikeLike
Sure, if you leave me with your email address or alternative, you may wish to email me at kally@middleme.net
LikeLike
Hi there, I found your web site by way of Google whilst looking for a comparable
subject, your website came up, it looks great.
I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, just turned into aware of your blog thru Google,
and found that it is really informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels.
I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future. Numerous other folks will likely be benefited out of your writing.
Cheers!
LikeLike
You will be delighted to know that I have plenty of other articles for you to explore. Enjoy yourself!
LikeLike
I blog frequently and I seriously thank you for your information. The article
has really peaked my interest. I am going to book mark
your site and keep checking for new details
about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
LikeLike
Thank you for your interest in MiddleMe and I’m happy to know that you enjoyed my articles very much.
LikeLike
My brother suggested I might like this blog.
He was totally right. This post actually made my day.
You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this info!
Thanks!
LikeLike
Thank you and welcome to MiddleMe!!
LikeLike
Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back
to your website? My website is in the exact same niche as
yours and my users would truly benefit from some of the information you provide here.
Please let me know if this okay with you. Appreciate it!
LikeLike
By all means, please go ahead. Thanks!
LikeLike
Hi! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content.
Please let me know. Many thanks
LikeLike
By all means, please go ahead. Thanks!
LikeLike
I blog frequently and I seriously thank you for your content.
The article has really peaked my interest. I will bookmark
your website and keep checking for new details about once per week.
I subscribed to your Feed as well.
LikeLike
Hey! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a
team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us valuable information to work
on. You have done a marvellous job!
LikeLike
You have made some really good points there. I looked on the internet for
more information about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your
views on this website.
LikeLike
I’m more than happy to find this great site. I need to
to thank you for your time due to this fantastic read!!
I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked
to see new information on your web site.
LikeLike
Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok.
I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
LikeLike
My Twitter account is kally_middleme. Come and find me!
LikeLike
Normally I do not read article on blogs,
however I would like to say that this write-up very pressured me
to try and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me.
Thank you, quite nice post.
LikeLike
Hey there! I’ve been reading your weblog for a long
time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Porter Tx!
Just wanted to say keep up the great work!
LikeLike
Great post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was looking for this particular info for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.
LikeLike
Thanks a lot for sharing this with all folks you really recognize what you’re talking approximately!
Bookmarked. Please also visit my website =). We could have a hyperlink exchange arrangement between us
LikeLike
I have got read through great blog and even completed some,but your work happens to be stunning.Hats off on your persistence . plus trustworthiness.Do retain us well informed in future too.
LikeLike
fantastic publish, very informative. I ponder why the opposite experts of this sector don’t notice this.
You should continue your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a great readers’ base already!
LikeLike
You must take part in a contest for probably the greatest blogs on the web. I will recommend this web site!
LikeLike
Hi there, You’ve done an incredible job. I will definitely digg
it and personallyy recommend to my friends. I’m confident they will be
benefited from this site.
LikeLike
Excellent Blog!|
LikeLike
Personal experiences make for great lessons. Thank you for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And thank you for reading!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post. Thanks for the read.
LikeLike
So true! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your further write ups thank
you once again.
LikeLike
Major thankies for the post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
LikeLike
Sound advice here. Keep it going!
LikeLike
To know a person in a blog, you should always read the first post.
Interesting blog.
unfortunately I do not like work, I love the game and then I work Ciaoooooooooooooo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha. I love to play too. But I love working as well. What can I say? I’m a true workaholic!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes I got it, you know I think you need a doctor to make you understand that the game is more important than work ………. then the game comes first, then the work comes, so that there is a balance of one’s conscience. in fact God tells us: Love yourself and then your neighbor. I see from your photo that you are very young, I do not tell you my age, because I do not know ……… you know people call me the man Prehistoric ahahahahahahah;)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahahaha. Your comment crack me up. I’m not very young anymore. I wish I was younger though.
LikeLike