I enjoy working with progressive managers. People who know that as a manager their focus is on making progress – and that this is best done by balancing personal development, the development of team members and execution of tasks. Progressive managers are not all that common. Here is my ‘starter for 10‘ for whether or not you are a Progressive Manager.
- You recognise that not only must your team achieve great results – but you must also develop the capacity of the team to perform better in the future.
- You continually develop new skills and behaviours that will make you more effective in your role as a manager.
- The outputs of your work make a positive contribution to the community.
- You recognise that ‘all power is trust’ and accordingly you strive to improve working relationships with team members and other stakeholders. You understand that relationships have to be worked on – they rarely just happen.
- You respect those who work for you – and understand that your success as a manager depends on their success. As such you see a large part of your role is to enable them to do their best work.
Can you suggest any further criteria for progressive Managers – or improve on the criteria I have listed here?