What are YOUR developmental needs???
As managers, it is our responsibility to inform our employees of their developmental needs to make them become the best they can be in their current as well as future positions. We respect those employees who are willing to listen and accept our critiques. And we very much respect those employees who actually make the improvements in the areas we have identified.
Do you Avoid Conflict???
Some managers avoid the conflict of informing their employees of their developmental needs, which can result in no progress being made not only by the employees but the entire company as well.
Conflict avoidance has always been the number one area we focus on in our Executive Coaching both for managers and for knowledge specialists. It is the absolute area of professionals’ work that they like the least.
Even worse than avoiding discussing developmental needs with your employees is the manager who avoids conflict by not self-identifying their OWN developmental needs. And what can be worse is when a manager is given constructive criticism — and they do not want to accept it or act on it. The situation is even more critical when you are a business owner and you are your own boss. Rarely do you receive any feedback on your management style.
All of us are going to need to be the very best manager we have ever been to come out of this pandemic with a better company than going into it. So, it is time for all of us to be realistic and receptive about our own development needs.
Critiquing Yourself. Who Me?
It is much easier to critique others than to critique ourselves. But remember in this blog we were reminded of how much we respect those who will accept constructive criticism and then improve the on it. So, the question must be asked, how well do YOU accept criticism about YOUR developmental needs? And how well do you positively respond to the criticism if you are fortunate enough to be given the honest feedback?
I’m confident that a vast majority of the managers reading this blog answered these two questions very positively about themselves – but their employees would NOT agree with their self-assessment.
Our employees know us very well. They know both our strengths and our deficiencies. The unfortunate part of this fact is our employees do not willingly give us honest feedback for political reasons and job security. There are those managers who give off the vibe that they want feedback and actually do receive some input from their employees. This is called a rare, exceptional manager. Then there are the managers who give off the vibes not to ever give me feedback because I don’t want it. And this is called a common, underdeveloped manager.
SO WHICH ARE YOU???
Now that you have been challenged to be honest with yourself, how well do you receive constructive criticism? You need to accept the fact that even you have some aspects of your management style that need improvement. The question is: why do so many managers continue to have their own development needs – and don’t improve in those areas?
Be the BEST you can be
If your company is going to come out of this pandemic a better company than before this crisis, then all of us in management to include myself need to become better than before this pandemic. We are going to be challenged as never before and called on to make decisions that we never thought we would have to make. So now is the ideal time to ask for help in the areas that will make us better managers.
If you are serious about addressing your own developmental needs, you should ask for assistance. Give Mulling HR a call if you want to discuss the specific areas you have realized you need developing. As chairman of the company, I have been providing Executive Coaching nationally for over 36 years and still do. Now is the time you need to be the BEST you can be. I am passionate about helping managers, leaders and owners alike be the Best they can be.
Author: Emory Mulling
Emory Mulling is a nationally recognized HR Consultant and Executive Coaching expert. As Founder and Chairman for the Mulling Corporation, the Mulling family of businesses is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm was founded in 1986 and is a leader in HR consulting for small, medium and large companies.