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Welcome to the final post in my 6-part Success Series, in which I feature managers whom I’ve helped embark on their journey towards the corner office. This week’s post is the continuation of Rob’s story. If you haven’t had the chance, I recommend reading last week’s post before moving on.
This week, we return to Rob, who realizes that discovering his dominant and potential management styles is not something he can do alone.
After about two months of trying to develop my potential management style, I started to understand Etika’s wry smile as I had left her after our meeting. Yes, there’s a huge difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it. As a talented manager, I was sure that the whole transformation thing would be a piece of cake - just a matter of identifying the factors affecting career development - but I was dead wrong. It was time to see Etika again.
After catching up on the last couple of months, I told Etika how hard it had all been. She assured me that I wasn’t the first to underestimate how difficult real change can be. It’s actually one of the most crucial factors affecting career development. She illustrated with examples of the way change is portrayed in the media as something “instant”, Actually, she explained, we are all creatures of habit who avoid change - sticking instead to what we already know. But change, she continued, means saying goodbye to the familiar and venturing to the unknown. It’s very hard but of course very possible - and requires some degree of help. Reflecting on the past two months, I knew that I needed help and asked Etika how she’d be able to assist me.
Referring to our initial conversation, she reminded me that we’d have to work on giving more room to my potential management style, which is currently being squashed by my dominant management style. This would be the first step towards paving my corporate development career path. It would require learning and practicing new habits, which would make me a more well-rounded manager. While she assured me of eventual success, Etika warned me that this kind of change isn’t “instant” and would come with the usual ups and downs that are expected with change. We’d take things step by step. I wasn’t thrilled to hear about this possible roller coaster ride, but I knew that I had to give it a try.
After about two years of learning how to make room for my potential management style by reducing certain aspects of my dominant management style , I was promoted to VP Marketing and in a couple of months, I’m due to be appointed CEO.
Rob received the help he needed to discover his dominant and potential management styles, leading him to achievements he’d probably never imaged.
What about your dominant and potential management styles? Leave a comment below.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
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