In our daily work, we hear quite often like ¡°How can I be the manager?¡±, ¡°How should I improve myself to be a manager?¡±, or ¡°Currently I am Senior XX, my next step should be manager or even more senior position, otherwise it is meaningless.¡± , ¡°My goal is to be the manager before 35, if I can¡¯t reach it, my career looks very awful, right?¡±
Yes, it might be right. But, kindly remind that don¡¯t be the manager just because you want to be the manager. Every choice is relevant to our life. A ¡°Manager¡± title might be shining, more powerful, but it also means more responsibilities.
By years¡¯ work with executives from big MNCs, we have some tips which might be helpful for professional who aims to be a top manager:
The first, on one hand, managers in China are commonly recognized by their personal ability. However, on the other hand, the executives from overseas point out that the Chinese managers are not accomplished in helping subordinates¡¯ success, in their words, ¡°Most managers just send out the order, and then monitor team¡¯s work, that¡¯s it.¡± In that case, it becomes rough, people do work for the pay, and there is no coach, no motivation, and no improvements. Thus, it is crucial for today¡¯s manager to change the mind and realized team members¡¯ success is your success. You are not only delegate the job, but also need to figure out what your team member want and how you can do to reach your common goals. Always try to be a leader, motivator, or mentor, rather than just a manager.
The second thing is time and money management. The executive said that most managers are able to achieve the jobs in certain degrees. However, at the mean time, they can also bring with some ¡°accidental cost¡±, in terms of time and money. Therefore it is also important for our manager to be well prepared and planned before any new project launch. The preparation is not only cover your familiarization about the product, market, suppliers etc, but also include how you build your team, select the right person to do specific jobs, and set the detailed time fame. The one thing you will probably have less of at work than money is time. Once you control your time, you might also find a way to save the money. And for the whole team, work over time is probably the last resort instead of a good solution.
Finally, communication. Communication looks like a simple skill. But, it might be the most important soft skill of a manager. You can't be a leader if you can't communicate in your vision. You can't motivate people if they can't understand what you want. But, we know that Communication is emotional rather than rational. To improve the communication skills, the executives have 2 suggestions:
1. Taking initiative, especially in China, it looks like the Chinese manager is always waiting for someone to knock on his door.
2 Empathy, once you can consider the problem from others¡¯ position, you got the key to understand what they want, and reach the agreement. |
