I just read an excellent article in the Harvard Business Review titled, Are You a Good Boss – or a Great One?
The research behind this article suggests most organizations have a group of managers of different levels of competency:
- a few great managers
- some capable managers
- most are mediocre
- poor managers
- some awful managers
It’s a classic bell curve as you might expect.
Authors Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback suggest that the primary reason the vast majority of managers becomes “stuck” at levels below GREAT is because they stop working on themselves.
I have to agree with their conclusions because I have seen the same thing in my career in working with thousands of managers. But, I think there is more to the issue:
- In an IT manager’s case, we often do not know how to develop our management skills
- In addition, most companies do not have anyone in the company who knows how to develop an IT manager’s management skills
- If you look for training for an IT manager, good luck in finding something practical that works in a true operational management situation
Let me comment on this final point. In every IT Manager Institute program I deliver, I continue to hear managers say they have been looking for help but could not find anything until they stumbled upon my information.
It’s a big reason I devoted my life to developing practical tools and training to help IT managers achieve more success ten years ago.
How can a manager become “Good” or “Great”?
First of all, your objective should be to become a GREAT manager. The authors of the HBR article suggest you need to ask yourself, “How good am I?” or “Do I need to be better?”
Take a look at the bell curve above. Where would you place yourself? Most would rate themselves a bit better than their actual performance would indicate.
A better question, “Where would your clients (senior managers and Department managers of your company) rate your performance as a manager?”
The good news is that there is a path to becoming a GREAT IT manager. It’s available to you if you choose to invest in yourself, , , and investing in yourself and your career is something we should all be doing for our entire career. For example, I try to invest in at least two training programs a year that will help me become a better small business owner.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the HBR article, , , it is well worth your time.
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