Becoming a Confident Manager: 5 tips to help you become more confident in any situation
How confident are you as a manager?
What situations make you feel a little unsure, uncomfortable or less confident about how to handle?
For the new manager, being thrust into suddenly having responsibility for achieving through others can feel daunting, intimidating or overwhelming. (Particularly when some of those “others” may be people you used to work alongside).
Even for the manager who has been managing for years, with the ever-changing market place, new technologies and a more diverse range of ages and cultures in your workplace, there are likely to be many situations which leave you feeling a little nervous or unsure.
Way back in my career as a teacher, I remember standing nervously in front of 30 expectant, intelligent, articulate individuals, all waiting to see how well I would perform, how successfully I could engage them, and how much of a “pushover” I was going to be!
Did it make my knees knock a little? You bet!
Later, as I took my first tentative steps towards mentoring, coaching and managing others in industry, I would feel those same feelings: nervousness; worried about my ability to manage what could be some quite tricky situations; concern about how others might perceive me and just a little vulnerable – did I know enough to do this job well?
Where do managers feel a lack of confidence?
There are three key areas which many managers report are the most tricky for them. What are they?
- Managing others who have higher qualifications than you or who are qualified in a different discipline.
- Influencing peers or external stakeholders where you have no direct authority, but good working relationships with these people are fundamental to good performance.
- Managing upwards. Whew is this a biggie! In many of the workshops I run, when I ask people to think of who they most want to be more effective at managing, a staggering proportion of those attending include their immediate line manager or higher in their top 3.
Each of these situations requires both consummate communication skills and a high degree of self-confidence.
So, what does a manager need to do to increase their confidence in these, or any other, “tricky” situations ?
5 keys to building your self confidence as a manager:
- Do what you believe to be right – even if others mock or criticise you for it.
From the moment you take on any management role, others are looking at you to see what kind of a manager you are going to be. Just as those children were “sussing me out” in the classroom all those years ago, your staff are doing the same with you. How you behave sets the scene for everything else.This is about two things really:
a) Getting absolutely clear about what’s really important to you, in terms of what needs to be accomplished, and what attitudes and behaviours you expect. Think of it as creating your own vision of “how we do things around here”.
b) When it comes to core values about how people work together you never compromise. In all else, you are open to suggestion and influence. In recent studies, outstanding managers, with the highest performing, most committed teams, all had crystal clear ideas about the kind of culture they wanted to create, and what was important to them – and they communicated this to everyone they worked with and gained “buy in” from all key stakeholders.When you feel clear and comfortable about what’s really important to you, and everything you do demonstrates this, even if others don’t always agree with you, they will respect your integrity, trust you, and know where they stand. Chances are you’ll have fewer tricky situations in future too!
- 2. Realise you don’t have to know it all.
There’s a very interesting video on “You-Tube” which really demonstrates the almost frightening pace of change which affects business today. Check out Karl Fisch’s “Shift Happens” when you have a moment.For now, it’s useful to see your role, not as being an “expert” at a particular subject, but rather an “expert” at helping to facilitate the expertise of others!
Instead of being intimidated by someone who seems more qualified than you, ask yourself: “How can I utilise this expertise for the benefit of the individual, the team, and the organisation?”
When you focus on what you can do to help others help you achieve the overall goals, not only do you get better results, you develop an awesome reputation as a highly skilled leader.Every really successful CEO I’ve ever come across sees others’ expertise and ambition as an opportunity – not a threat! The best managers just need to know how to engage smart people to get the job done.
- 3. Be willing to take risks, and go the extra mile to achieve things
Building your own sense of personal power and influence comes from being willing to take risks yourself; from facing your fears, and dealing with what you know needs to be done.At a personal level, if you don’t face the underperforming member of staff, for example, because you don’t feel confident to deal with it, you become trapped and nothing will be resolved until something forces the situation. Your confidence is likely to decrease even more as time goes on. Meanwhile, don’t kid yourself others aren’t noticing. They are. And this will further dent your confidence.
- 4. Admit your mistakes – and learn from them
This really follows on from tip number 3.If you’re going to be willing to take risks – you won’t always get it right! However, as long as you learn from that mistake, you will be ready to try something different, and each time you do, you’ll increase your confidence. And if you create a culture where others see it’s OK to make mistakes, you’ll build the confidence of your staff too!
- Give credit to others
We all know people who are expert at extolling their own virtues! Individuals who have a high level of self-esteem and confidence don’t need to shout about their accomplishments.Don’t feel the need to shout about what you’ve done, or what you know. Instead, give others the limelight at every opportunity. Whether you’re managing up, down or across, think of how you can help others to excel, and you are more likely to be rewarded with excellence.
And when you achieve excellent results, allow yourself a pat on the back, accept any compliments about how well you managed those diverse individuals gracefully, and get excited about the next challenges!
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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:
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Managing Organizational Change Effectively
Part 1 – Managing Organizational Change
What changes are you going through in your organisation at the moment? Re-structuring? Shedding staff? Asking staff to work reduced hours? Changing processes? Changing environments and work spaces? Docking bonuses?
The list of potential changes is endless!
For some, it seems like one never-ending move (or “lurch”, depending on your perspective!) to another.
I can’t remember who said it – but I’m sure someone did – that change is inevitable! If we don’t initiate it ourselves, someone else will do it for us! The problem of course, is change is unsettling and a little uncomfortable at best, and downright upsetting and frightening at its worst; and it’s these emotions which can determine our responses and which will impact on our ability to perform.
Faces of Leadership and Change Management
As a manager, it helps to remember there are two “faces” to change: the “human” or emotional face, and the process itself.
How do you manoeuvre these tricky waters? Let’s look at the human or emotional side first.
Management of Change Definition
Humans are, first and foremost, emotional beings, and, according to psychological theories such as Maslow espoused, (which some of you may be familiar with), we all have some fundamental needs in common.
One perspective is that there are 6 deep-seated, fundamental human needs, which literally drive everyone’s behaviour. More often than not, these 6 operate at a sub-conscious level. In other words, we will often be totally oblivious of the fact these needs are driving us – but in any given situation, one or more of them most certainly are!
Those needs are:
- Security/Certainty (in our environment and in our relationships too)
- Insecurity/Uncertainty (risk, new challenges, or else we get bored)
- Community (belonging to a group/social acceptance)
- Significance (status, respect, recognition, power within a group)
- Growth (a feeling we are learning & developing)
- Contribution (a feeling there is some purpose/meaning to our lives)
So what I hear you say?
Well, when our needs are not met, or we feel they are threatened, we don’t feel good. When they are consistently not met, or frequently threatened we can become very unhappy and resentful; and when we don’t feel good, our behaviour is likely to be affected in a negative way.
The key to managing organizational change and effective team management is to realise change can, and often does, significantly impact some, if not all, of these fundamental needs.
Change threatens people’s need for security first and foremost. For some of your staff, (those who relish changes and new challenges rather than worry about or fear them), it may not be such a problem, but those who feel a little insecure can respond with all sorts of unhelpful behaviours. It represents a roller-coaster of emotions which, if ignored or dismissed can lead to further anxiety, resentment and disengagement. An added dimension is the perception of control: if your staff perceive they have little or no control or input within the situation, this will increase levels of stress significantly.
Three Tips for Managing Organizational Change:
- Understand that people will have a variety of different feelings about what’s happening around them.
Become more observant of how your staff are responding to the suggested changes. Are they showing high levels of anxiety? Are they resistant? Are they excited about potential new opportunities?
Each member of staff will be in a different “place” mentally. It’s your job to know where they are so you can plan how to deal with it! - Find a way of giving people a bit more individual attention at times of change – particularly when the upheaval may be significant. Discuss and acknowledge their feelings and consider ways in which you might be able to support them, and they might be able to help themselves and each other.
Keep communication levels high – and as open as possible throughout. This is not the time to play “ostrich”. - Stress in humans rises when we feel we have little control over what is happening to us.
Look for, and plan ways in which you can engage staff in the process wherever possible.
We cannot stop change from happening. Nor can we stop the fact that every one of us (including us as managers!) will feel at least some discomfort and vulnerability as it happens; but we can manage the process in a way which reveals our humanity and which helps bring people through the changes in a constructive and caring manner.
We can also remind ourselves that it is often the way that whilst the change itself was uncomfortable, many changes we have experienced in the past have actually turned out to be positive for us in the end. (We’ve all heard the stories of people who faced redundancy who said it was the best thing that ever happened to them once the dust had settled.)
If we remind ourselves of those 6 human needs – perhaps it is change which often gives us the most in terms of opportunities for personal growth- if we choose to perceive it that way.
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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:
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