The Calling of Management: The 10 Beliefs of Great Managers
It is extremely worthwhile to see this light of renewal go on in managers eyes when they realize that the hard work of management can evolve into the gift of a calling in your life.
When you are a manager, your work is vitally important: it matters.
Take your work from good to great.
What is your intention? Did you choose to be a manager, or did you just find your way to being one? Whatever the history of your journey, do you love being a manager? If not, why do you persist in being one?
You can’t be a great manager if you do not intentionally choose to be one, and then make a passionate commitment to management consciously and with full intention. To “get started” with Managing with Aloha, you must be able to honestly say being a manager is your deliberate choice, and that your passion lies in the joys which come from being a great manager: “Good” is not good enough, for as a manager you directly affect the quality of people’s lives. That is not a responsibility to be taken lightly.
You must take stock of where your own convictions are when it comes to certain beliefs:
What do the truly great managers of our world believe in?
- Managers must believe that people are innately good. Without this core belief and faith in people, great management is not possible.
- Managers believe they do not work on their people, they work with them; they enable and empower them.
- Managers believe that “empowerment” comes from within, and has more to do with self-motivation and innate talent than with the acceptance of authority. They get their cues from the person, not from the task or process.
- Managers believe that all people have strengths which can be made stronger, and that their weaknesses can be compensated for to become unimportant.
- When it comes to training, the great managers do not believe they train people, they believe they train skills and offer additional knowledge.
- Managers believe they coach and mentor people, and they love doing so — not “like,” love.
- Managers believe that the people they manage are more than capable of creating a better future. They hold great faith and trust in the four-fold human capacities of physical ability, intellect, emotion, and spirit.
- Managers believe in the power of positive, affirmative thinking, and they have a low tolerance for negativity. They are confident and eternal optimists.
- Managers believe it is their job to remove barriers and obstacles so people can attain the level of greatness they are destined for. They believe that “can’t” is a temporary state of affairs, and that everything is only impossible until the first person does it.
- Managers believe that their legacy will be in the other people they have helped to achieve worthwhile and meaningful goals. They believe that success is measured in people who thrive and prosper.
These are the reasons why managers matter, and why management is vitally important. These are the challenges you must be eager to tackle. Let-me-at-‘em, I’m-perfect-for-this-job eager.
Author: Rosa Say, founder of SAY LEADERSHIP COACHING, and author of Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business
You may also be interested in: The 12 Rules of Self-Management
To “hear” what a great manager sounds like, read this: How smiles and thank yous make a difference.
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