By Mohan Reddy
Manager: This word evokes a lot of emotions in all of us. Many a time our manager or manager(s) decide our fate and career prospects in our professional lives based on various well written, documented processes and sometimes on completely fictitious and insane self-assumptions, which have no sensible logic! This word will flood our memories with many words: supportive, demanding, task-master, kind hearted, humorous, motivational, energetic, knowledgeable, flexible, reasonable, human, egoistic, approachable, mentor, allergic, aggressive… unrealistic, scheming, unreasonable, fearful, de-motivating, sarcastic, sadistic, the list is endless. Some managers have had an immense positive effect and some drastic negative effects on our lives. I have segmented them into seven categories and briefly detailed only the positives aspects of each of these categories. Check out your type, or your manager type. Most have over lapping qualities, but all will have one of these as a dominant style of managing teams.
- Emergency Manager: These managers fully understand the importance of profits and returns. They are good planners, care for the health and safety of their colleagues. They are great at handling crisis, take risks, and seldom compromise on organizational goals or cross legal boundaries. They are control freaks and authoritative in nature. They are decisive and calm even among the midst of chaos and emergency situations. They never lay back and are always pushing you beyond your limits.
- Relationship Manager: Their ability to build and work on relationships is their primary strength. They handle conflicts easily on the basis of this inherent strength of investing a lot of time with everyone. They use their interpersonal and strong communication skills to gain trust and loyalty among team members. Their emotional quotient is very high and hence can give you good and bad news with equal élan. They are customer focused, open in praising and recognizing your work. They are always available to listen to your problems and issues. They are quiet protective and demanding of their teams.
- Adaptive Manager – They are good at logic, rational and scientific in approach. They use data to manage work and measure performance. They believe in systems and processes, and use them effectively in enhancing efficiency and driving productivity. Being experts in their field of specialty, they have strong analytical and technical skills. They think strategically and make quick decisions to capitalize on available opportunities. If inwardly focused, they are good at organizing information and monitoring results. If, outwardly focused, they anticipate work flow issues and get things done. They plan and prioritize their work and provide stability and continuity. They embrace and adapt best practices of others.
- Supportive Manager: They focus on developing the healthy facets of your personality. They are accountable and take responsibility for all their thoughts, feelings, and actions. They seek opinions, build consensus, and empower their teams. They give others freedom, making them accountable for outcomes and results, hate micromanaging direct reports. They research well, evaluate risks before embarking on new ventures. They promote participation, equality, and diversity. They ignore or remove hierarchy. They are quite flexible. They are enablers and innovators, encourage others to express themselves and share their ideas. They enjoy challenges and are bold in their approach to problems.
- Inspirational Manager: They have a clear vision and mission for themselves, others and the organisation. They demonstrate integrity and are living examples of values-based leadership. They build cohesiveness and focus on bringing values, openness, fairness, and transparency, they build trust and commitment among their teams. The culture they create unleashes enthusiasm, passion, and creativity within the teams they lead. They are more concerned about getting the best result for every one rather than their own self-interest. They are focused on the common goal for good. They are honest and truthful and display integrity in all they do. This confidence and their openness allow them to reclassify problems as opportunities.
- Mentoring Manager: They are the game changers in your life. They are fully responsive, recognize and focus on building a working environment where individuals are encouraged and empowered to deliver their full potential. They collaborate to create win-win situations. They are practical and display empathy. They create an environment where individuals can excel. They are always actively mentoring and coaching their subordinates. They are intuitive decision-makers. They are inclusive. They are on top of their game. They are very active in building relationships that create goodwill and build resilience. They display emotional, social, and intellectual intelligence.
- Visionary Manager: These managers are motivated by the need to be of service to all. They can handle any level of complexity. They care about legacy and what others think about them. They are focused more on long-term results rather than short-term gains. They see their own mission and that of their teams from a larger, organisational perspective. They are committed to social responsibility and ethics. They act with humility and compassion. They are generous in feelings, patient, and pardoning by nature. They are at ease with uncertainty and can tolerate ambiguity. They enjoy solitude and can be reclusive and reflective. They are admired for their wisdom and vision. They are great role models and achieve high status and success in life.