Defining your management style

What kind of manager do you want to become? Do you want to dig deeply into the details? Do you want to be a visionary that only gets involved at a high level? Do you want to drive your people as hard as possible? Do you want to make sure that your staff has a good work-life balance? Do you want your staff to like you, be afraid of you, hate you, respect you or want to be you? The answers to these questions will be partially based on your personal beliefs, abilities, temperament and values. Other answers will be based on your conscious decisions on what kind of manager you want to be.

?There are many great books that discuss management practices and techniques. In general, these books recommend that you provide leadership, give direction, provide encouragement, delegate responsibility, give constructive criticism and continually communicate. You and you alone must decide if you want to take the time and effort to learn from these books and which suggested techniques to personally employ.

?Regarding which of these techniques to add to your personal repertoire, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, some of the suggested management practices will be easier or harder for you to adopt. That said, through effort, I believe almost any person can employ almost any management technique if they put their mind to it.

Over time, you may see your management style evolve.

• You may start out very strict and overbearing and years later become mentoring and supportive.
• You may start out mentoring and supportive and end up strict and overbearing.
• You may quickly fall into a management style that is successful for you and maintain it through your entire career.

?In any case, you will see that as you grow personally through your life, you will also gain a deeper understanding and a clearer perspective of what it takes to make a good manager and what type of manager you want to be.

As for me, I’m a very different manager now than I was twenty years ago, or even ten years ago. I have always tried to be fair, supportive, and mentoring. As time moved on and my personal and professional experience increased, I have found that I have become much more effective giving constructive feedback, setting department goals, thinking strategically, motivating my team and mentoring my staff.

As you work to formulate your personal management style, consider the following items which, in retrospect, I wish someone had told me earlier in my career.

• You need to find a style that is consistent with your personality. If you don’t, you won’t enjoy being a manager.?
• If you treat your staff like you would like to be treated, you are probably on the right track.
• Learn by watching other managers.
• Know that everyone makes mistakes. The trick is to learn from those mistakes and not make them again.
• Be open minded and willing to take advice from your boss, other managers, and even your staff.
• Know that defining your management style is an ongoing journey, not a destination.

Lastly, know that my goal here is not to push you to be a specific kind of manager, it is to help you grow into the type of manager you would like to be.

The primary advice and takeaways are to know that:

• Over time, you may see your management style evolve
• Be willing to take advice and learn from other managers
• Managers of all levels and experience make mistakes, the trick is to learn from them and not make them again
• Find a management style that is consistent with your personality

(First published in GateHouse News Service.)