Managers see their people get the job done.
Managers direct their units or teams to fulfill their
responsibilities. When managers do their jobs, teams fulfill their assignments. When teams fulfill their
assignments, the organization achieves its purpose.
That makes the manager’s role seem simple. It ain’t necessarily so.
Consider this statement from Agha Hasan Abedi:
The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.
I agree completely with Abedi’s statement. However, I offer it with these qualifications:
- I found the quote as lead-in to the article Making the Best Managers by Nancy Thomas and Scott Saslow of The Institute of Executive Development. Credit to my sources.
- Abedi, as founder of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, was "accused of perpetrating the largest financial fraud in history." So, the man had doubtful ethics…but good sense about the manager’s true role.
I offer my co-premises:
The manager engaged in providing opportunities and situations that generate development also generates engagement among employees.
The employee engaged in his work, his company’s purpose, and the
connection between the two, develops and improves his skills, knowledge
and abilities.
More and more management skills are required by today’s complexities. Yet, the specific engagement attributes too often escape attention. These attributes allow managers to
- Increase engagement among their people,
- Stimulate continuous development by those people,
- Exercise management skills with greater ease and confidence,
- Lead teams to fulfill expectations,
- Contribute to achievement of company goals and objectives.
A manager engaged in promoting development among her people typically exhibits some or all of these interests:
- People Interest: curiosity, listening, empathy
- Company Interest: commitment, "ownership," innovation
- Growth Interest: leadership, performance improvement, personal/professional development.
And it is accurate to say the employee whom such a leader engages demonstrates those same interests.
I/O/W, engagement breeds engagement.
Tags: Development, Employee Engagement, engagement, improvement, Leadership, Management, manager, ownership, performance improvement
