Are you a Proactive Manager?

Easier said than done …
Being ‘proactive’ all the time is a tough gig. Managers get pulled at from so many different directions. On the one hand, you’re a doer and on the other hand, you’re a facilitator. It is arguably one of the toughest jobs out there.

Sink or swim…
Often, people are promoted to a manager role because they are really good at being a doer. But we all know that it takes a much wider skill set to excel as a manager.

I recently started working with a group of highly skilled business professionals called the Performance Optimization Group. Together, we came up with some guidelines to make a tough job a little bit easier.

The 4 P’s

  1. Principles:
    Proactive Managers clearly understand their core principles, and refer back to these principles to drive every decision and action. They consider others’ perspectives and accept problems. They also model a balanced life.
  2. Personal Productivity:
    Personal productivity is critical to early and ongoing success of any manager. Proactive Managers have solid systems in place to manage their information, their time and their priorities.
  3. Process:
    Managing work is a process. It starts with a comprehensive intake, followed by interim reviews and ends with balanced, two-way feedback. Proactive Managers value and fulfil their important role in each of these steps.
  4. People:
    A proactive Manager is intentional about establishing relationships. They continually assess engagement and address gaps through a variety of strategies, including standards and expectation setting.

A Simple Framework…
Of course, there is much more that could be said on the topic of management. But sometimes having a simple framework like this can be a really powerful way to direct our on-going learning.