Professional Development
There is no one size fits all answer to how to develop yourself professionally: each industry sector has its own demands, expectations, qualification requirements, continuing professional development regulations, etc.
However, the ‘technical’ aspects of your competence, sit alongside your skills as a manager. At one end of the scale, many large corporate organisations have the staffing capacity and resources to deliver inhouse training courses. Many of these may now fall into the increasingly popular eLearning options. But eLearning isn’t really learning, although the content may be useful from a knowledge point of view. At the other end of the scale, nothing is on offer, other than an expectation that you will learn on the job.
You would be amazed at the number of middle managers who are just left to get on with it, who may have received early promotion and then discovered that their professional, technical expertise does not equips them for a management role.
Managing one other person is a complex task if it is done well; managing a whole team is a real challenge in terms of bringing together a range of skills, expertise, values, beliefs and personalities.
Successful managers will have developed a number of important skills associated with
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recruitment and skill development,
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problem solving,
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decision making,
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meeting management,
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communications,
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planning and project management,
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delegation,
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motivation,
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managing discipline
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and dealing with conflict.
Above all they will have achieved that all important milestone of understanding the difference between leadership and management, and how to do both in their role.
At a personal level, successful managers understand that their personal development in terms of
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emotional intelligence,
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personal organisation,
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positive mindset,
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confidence, and inter-personal communication skills,
underpin their professional development
Which of these areas do you fully understand, which of them do you feel you are confident in?
Is it really fair to expect you to manage without these tools, techniques and skills? Do you know how a coaching or mentoring relationship can significantly reduce the learning time it takes to master management?
Call me now to explore how you can become the professional leader and manager you want to be by gaining all the necessary skills for you to be successful in your role.