Recently, I was with a client who is more so a trusted friend and in several ways, a peer when it comes to training managers. We will often exchange thoughts, ideas and challenging the future in how people learn. We were talking about Gen Y; particularly about what they need from their leader / manager in the workplace. I had brought about a concept of always working through problems, by not focusing on the problem but rather the solution. Simple enough, right? This makes sense for everyone regardless of generation for that matter. So we continued with additional considerations and needs; feedback, measurement, inclusiveness, technology and creativity. This led to my comment on the importance of customizing your leadership and management style to accommodate the needs of your team. She then said something that caused this post. She said, “This is precisely the way I have led my teams for the past 10 years.”
Here is what struck me…wait for it…If you are customizing your style to accommodate others; does that suggest your style is in fact their style? In other words, does their style then become your style? And after leading and managing in that way for a period of time, is their still any distinction or is this just simply your style. OK, uncross your eyes and no, I haven’t been taking any illicit drugs.
A management style can be defined in so many ways. How about some of these very common remarks:
“That is the way I would want to be talked to.”
“I believe in an open environment where people can say anything.”
“It is important to have multiple pulse checks during a project.”
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”
“OK guys, what do you think?”
I would submit, we become the managers we are or were or will be based on what we experience in all things. We learn and develop and then adapt these lessons to our thoughts, words, actions and deeds.
For instance, I became a manager for the first time at age 21+ right after university. I had a small team in a department store. While I brought some very positive characteristics to the team, I managed them very poorly at first. I was the manager and they weren’t. Can you visual the train wreck I created? Then years later and in NYC of all places, I began to see how what the team needed was not a manager, but a leader. A manager worries about process. A leader pays attention to people. As I got to know each member of the team, accommodated what they needed personally from me, my job as manager became easier, faster, quicker and with much more trust within the team. We started to really “click”. At the same time I was accommodating another’s need, I was simultaneously adapting my own personal style. In other words, what I learned from one individual created a best practice I will use every time with everyone I ever manage and lead. Make sense?
So what is your style? How would define it? Perhaps the question is what caused it or maybe who caused it? If you are new to management, don’t go in saying you will definitely be this or do it this way. You may not know what you do not know. I suggest you go in asking questions about your team and their needs. Let the job be the job – that’s the manager part. Be the leader and grow, develop and care for your team. This does not mean you won’t have issues. Nothing is perfect. If you pay attention to your team, a style will definitely emerge if you let it.