Perception is reality; this rule of thumb definitely applies to managers and their perceived “style” and it is important, as a manager, to understand that your management style is a combination of various components that include behaviour and results, and in most cases, your behaviour will strongly influence your results, for better or worse.
The critical key, however, is to understand all the components of your management style to allow you to keep those features that work well and adjust those that may need improvement. This analysis is impossible without your understanding of your style components.
Typically, a management style will be a combination of personality, experience, education, industry, motivation, corporate culture, ambition and analytical skills. This may be a complex and elusive mixture to identify, but by understanding your style components, you can tweak those features that could be more effective and improve your management results. The following questions should help you identify them but you will need honesty and objectivity in order to help you reach your goal of understanding.
Here are some thoughtful questions to ask yourself to help you identify your management style. There are no right or wrong answers; the important factor is that you answer them honestly. When you’re done, you should have a better understanding of your management style and how you have developed it. If this were a test, which it is not, answering “yes” to all of these questions should earn you an “A” grade, but the goal is to identify and understand your current management style to help you improve.
• Do you typically successfully manage the complexity of business and evaluate your available options? As you motor up the corporate ladder, managing complexity, uncertainty, and identifying options becomes ever more important.
• Do you always prioritize and analyze your options to attempt to make the most effective decisions? An effective management style typically includes the “prioritize and analyze” process before making decisions.
• Are your typical actions focused on the critical goals of your company, even if they temporarily conflict with your own professional objectives? This is an important component of a good management style. How you handle and implement procedures that apparently conflict with your personal goals can sometimes influence your career.
• Do you understand those duties that can be safely delegated and those that often demand your personal attention and resolution? A management style is often defined by your success at delegation and personal involvement in completing necessary tasks.
• Do you normally try to identify the underlying causes of issues to help you make better decisions and problem resolutions? A sometimes overlooked component, identifying root causes of conflicts, problems, or other issues can greatly improve management style results.
• Do you try to avoid over-simplifying complex issues by disregarding critical components? The temptation to simplify and reduce complexity is strong. If you can do it without discarding critical factors, continue. But attempts at simplification that don’t include addressing important factors that cause the complexity can be dangerous.
• Do you avoid a paralysis of analysis condition to help you make timely decisions? Requirements for business decisions seldom offer managers sufficient time to thoroughly analyze all probabilities. Uncertainty usually rules. Over-analysis and inaction is a decision – usually the wrong one. Get as much data as possible in a reasonable time, and then act.
• Do you always explain your decisions and actions to help your staff understand the reasons why certain procedures are required? Expecting “blind obedience” from your staff is a style, but not a preferred or particularly effective plan. Most employees appreciate an explanation, and they typically react and perform much better when they understand.
Understanding the features of your style will display how your components fit together, and once you understand your style, you can modify those components that may need improvement, and infuse these changes with those features that work very well. As you gain experience, knowledge, and professional maturity, adopting and perfecting a winning management style will improve your career.
