Think you’re ready to move from an individual-contributor role into a job that includes people management? To determine whether you’re ready for a people-management role, you should be able to demonstrate the following seven behaviors.
Think you’re ready to move from an individual-contributor role into a job that includes people management? Not every individual contributor will be a good people manager, because people management is a lot more difficult than most would imagine. Harvard research reveals that only about one in 10 people have the necessary traits to be a good manager.
To determine whether you’re ready for a people management role, take this quick quiz. You should be able to demonstrate the following seven behaviors.
You consistently achieve positive results in your current job. If you can’t complete outstanding work in your current job, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to handle the additional responsibilities that come with managing others. You must prove you are organized, self-motivated and ready to take on higher-level challenges.
You have established positive work relationships with employees throughout the company. Being a good people manager means you must be good with people. If you’re a loner who rarely interacts with others, then you might want to reconsider your career goals or seek out opportunities to test your people-management skills, such as by leading project teams.
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You can demonstrate successful leadership of project teams. Most employees aren’t given a higher-level title with people-management responsibilities unless they can prove they are ready. This includes demonstrable success in leading project teams with progressively more challenging work and increasing numbers of participants.
You have excellent conflict-management skills. This requires the ability to remain levelheaded and uncover all the information necessary to analyze the various angles of a situation before you react. Those with anger-management issues rarely make good people managers.
You are a good teacher/mentor/coach. A good people manager coaches and mentors others every day. Characteristics necessary: excellent written and verbal communication skills, active listening skills, patience, empathy, ability to motivate others, trustworthiness and the ability to be collaborative.
Your co-workers respect you and come to you for advice. As a manager, there will be times you’ll have to make decisions based on what’s the right thing to do versus what is politically correct, and not everyone will like your decisions. Being respected is something you earn. It means people recognize your expertise, your knowledge, influence, trustworthiness, and most important, your character and integrity.
You are viewed by management as a leader. Have you been identified as a high-potential employee? Do you have a career-development plan and can demonstrate progress on accomplishing your goals? Do you ask for challenging projects and tasks?
If you can answer “yes” to all seven behaviors listed above, then you’re probably ready to take on people management responsibilities. If you answered “no” to any of the items, put those behaviors on your 2015 personal development list – and begin working on them.
Lisa Quast is the founder of Career Woman, Inc., and the author of the book Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach. Email her at lquast@careerwomaninc.com.