'Who Is Managing Your Career?'

Research has shown that a significant percentage of U.S. managers - after a few years in a managerial role - tend to become complacent with their managerial competence and therefore, fail to take full advantage of career building and networking opportunities. Thus they fail to reach their potential. These managers don't recognize the need for implementing an ongoing self-improvement plan unless there is a traumatic event that shocks them into recognition - a poor appraisal, denial of a promotion or a termination.

No manager ever 'arrives'. We all must continually re-invent ourselves. Today's marketplace has far too many changes continually presenting managers with unexpected challenges. With the pace of today's business environment it's easy for a manager to feel that he/she has all they can handle in addressing their day-to-day challenges and delivering the required short term results. But reaching our potential as managers is an ongoing process consisting of continually seeking evaluative feedback, taking advantage of formal developmental opportunities, forming new relationships and growing through different level on-the-job experiences.

A manager, by definition, has responsibility for improving the performance of others - knowing that today's performance from his/her team will not be satisfactory in the near future. That logic applies to the role of a manager as well as a frontline employee. The most successful managers accept the responsibility of leading others and they realize that they can more effectively do so by accepting the responsibility of 'managing themselves.'

Managers continually send messages to their teams through their actions - but also through their language, values and relationships. From those messages employees form a perception of the manager as a total person. And that perception of the total person influences their level of engagement, motivation, commitment and performance. In essence, the effectiveness of any manager is determined by his/her team's perception of and relationship with that manager.

Employees are positively influenced by managers whom they see as having both the competencies necessary to perform the managerial role - as well as the desire to help them be successful. Therefore, a manager who has a sound understanding of who he/she is now, what he/she wants to become and has developed a plan to get there has a significantly greater capability of effectively influencing his/her team.

Managers who want to improve their managerial competencies take full advantage of skill assessments, performance feedback, new work assignments and training opportunities that are appropriate for their plan. These developmental experiences move the manager along their journey toward their vision for themselves as a manager. And managers have more of these developmental opportunities available to them today than ever before.

Managers can assess their competencies and create their plan by developing a personal S.W.O.T. Analysis. Using those results a manager can create a robust development plan including strategies, goals, accountabilities and timelines. This S.W.O.T. assessment process is most effective if:

·        the S.W.O.T. is conducted within the context of their current organization or one they aspire to

·        much of the assessment input is obtained from knowledgeable others in their workplace - one's manager, direct reports, peers and customers.

Many of us in this new year are resolved to losing pounds and, like our diets, our managerial development plan:

·        is our responsibility

·        will be more effective if it includes reasonable goals with steps and timetables for achieving those goals

·        can benefit from peer pressure if we share our plan with others

·        should include ongoing assessments - weigh ins - to reflect on which developmental experiences are working and which are not

 You might continually ask yourself:

·        what can I do to create multiple career options for myself?

·        how can I provide greater value to my organization which, in turn, will enrich my career journey?

·        how can I move out of my comfort zone to enhance my personal brand/reputation?

Occasionally while facilitating leadership and managerial skill development workshops, we at The Focus Group experience participants who don't take full advantage of the opportunity - even when their employer has paid for the development and is paying them while they are there.

As managers we are each sole proprietors in competition with many others who are talented and very eager to take our place. I think we can benefit from occasionally reminding ourselves that:

·        effective managerial performance today will not be adequate performance tomorrow

·        no one owes any of us a career

·        and our competitors may well be gaining ground