Managers scared to manage?
Each week contestants on The Apprentice have to summon the
courage to lead their team on a challenge that they have little or
no skills. To be successful in the modern world of management this
kind of dogged determination is essential. So why then do the
majority of the UK's managers admit to regularly dodging daunting
challenges?
These are the main findings of 'Causes and cures for timid
management', a Common Purpose survey that found that over two
thirds of junior and middle managers - the most common day to day
managers we deal with - admitted to regularly lacking the courage
to tackle challenges they find daunting. The result is that UK
managers feel ill equipped for their roles as leaders, with nine
out of 10 doubting their own judgement and feeling dispirited when
facing new and challenging situations. This was particularly true
when dealing with the top ten most common challenges managers
face:
- Dealing with difficult personalities, including customers,
staff or boss
- Giving criticism
- Receiving criticism
- Negotiating with people outside their authority, eg,
colleagues, customers, suppliers or civil servants
- Making judgements or decisions under time pressure
- Communicating bad news upwards or downwards
- Working with poor support from above
- Dealing with angry, bullying or hostile customers or
clients
- Feeling dispirited when whatever they're doing isn't
working
- Building credibility with important new clients / customers /
stakeholders
As the research shows, if corporate leaders are not given the
necessary training and support, they lose their confidence and
avoid challenges. This hinders not only their career
progression but potentially the bottom line of their employers.
"Managers are taught core leadership skills and soar over the
early jumps; but when the hurdles become less familiar - ones they
haven't already studied or solved - they back off. The resulting
crisis is that they either refuse and leave their jobs, or refuse
and stay in place and duck opportunities. We must develop leaders
who can lead in unfamiliar territory, where people are not 'all
like me' and the opportunities may look very different."
Julia Middleton, Chief Executive,
Common Purpose
