Personal empowerment key to manager's development - management development programs - Management Development

When there's commitment from the organization and the individuals to this five-phase learning process, the result is high-performance management.

For years, management development has been synonymous with training classes. New managers are pushed through a series of classes to build communication skills, value differences, learn to lead, coach and motivate their employees, manage teams and do strategic planning. However, the development experience is more than a menu of classes.

It is hard to argue against skill building, because there are certainly skills, knowledge and aptitudes managers must have if they are to be successful. Training classes are necessary, but they are insufficient. Development has very little to do with time spent in a classroom. Actually, development is much more personal. It is reflective, situational, spontaneous and unrehearsed. Personal development creates attitudes and beliefs or builds a philosophy that is essential if the management team is to grow and prosper outside the classroom. Management development requires two things: the personal commitment of the individual manager and facilitation by the organization.

Learning model

To fully grasp what is meant by management development is to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. It is the aspect of development that can only come from one's heart. It has to do with values, aspirations, dreams, the legacy one leaves as a manager and beliefs about people.

It is about making a commitment to experience the experience and grow to one's full potential. What is really needed for an organization and its management team to flourish is the desire to continually learn and grow. The quality of the management development experience is as much the manager's personal choice as it is the organization's responsibility.

Describing the management development learning model as a process would be misleading. Each circle represents a phase and each phase overlaps with the others. If one only focuses on skill-building classes and disregards the other phases, the amount of learning that transfers back to the job is significantly reduced.

Management development requires that managers understand how they learn. Managers who understand their own learning process can better orchestrate the process, selecting learning opportunities they know will be meaningful. Here are the five phases that capture the essence of the development process.

One: Assuming ownership

Personal empowerment--taking responsibility for one's own development--may be the most important aspect of the learning model. The classroom approach to management development makes us dependent on classes that other people believe are important and have scheduled. No class, no development.

Managers responsible for their own development view the organization as the stage for learning. They create a vision of the successful manager and work toward it. They let go of dependency on others and take control of their own destiny. These managers view each new experience as an opportunity for learning. They create as well as seize learning opportunities.

Development implies change, which is not always easy. Openness to change and a willingness to take risks lead to a greater self-awareness and insight. If there is also a willingness to understand and own what went wrong, one's mistakes can provide great lessons.

Two: Assessment

Skill assessment should be an ongoing process to determine what skills will be needed for continuing success. Honest feedback is essential to this process and, unfortunately, is at a premium in most organizations. There is a general unwillingness to share perceptions of the truth. The only way to get honest feedback is to continually ask for it.

Assessment must take a broader, strategic focus as well to include understanding of organizational direction and strategy as well as changing social and political forces.

Three: Setting priorities

Development objectives should be driven by long- and short-term business objectives. Job challenges are the best opportunity to develop new skills. If managers are good at setting business objectives, areas for personal development will become obvious. Managers should write their own development plans to encourage greater commitment and serve as visible reminders of what they are trying to accomplish.

Priorities should also be tied to each manager's personal vision of greatness. Each person's picture of the ideal manager, when shared with others, will evolve and serve the organization as it elevates the idea of effective management to new heights.

Four: Taking action

Assessing needs and setting priorities is not enough. Development is the result of action. Managers must take ownership for the process and create opportunities for learning that lead to success on the job. Taking a class now and then may also make sense. Personal development is hard work. Experimenting, taking risks, seeking feedback, creating opportunities and reflecting on weakness are all necessary steps on the path to becoming a successful manager.

Five: Monitoring progress

Rather than being judgmental and overly critical, managers should pay attention to what can be seen, felt and heard--letting the mind and body self-correct without the pressure of being perfect. The ability to capture key learnings is an important aspect of the development process. The goal is to integrate what is being learned, so there is a connection to other skills, knowledge and aptitudes. If successful, skills become part of a person and require less conscious thought to be used.

The other aspect of monitoring is to look at the actual learning process. Is the process working? What is the rate of learning? Are there visible results? When the managers understand what works for them, they can repeat it.

Senior management's role

Setting strategic direction. Strategic direction is typically thought of as deciding what markets to compete in and what new products to introduce. When strategic direction goes beyond the marketplace to consider the organization as a source of competitive advantage, one aspect of the organization that requires attention is skill development: in this case management skills. Senior management can facilitate the learning of these skills by making development a priority. This can be done by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the management team and identifying how its members need to change if the organization hopes to accomplish its strategic objectives. Another way is to target time and money for development activities. Senior managers can also signal the importance of development by sharing with others their own journey in management.

Probably the most important role a manager plays is that of creating culture. By their actions, managers show people what is important and valued in the organization. If management development really matters, it should be easy to cite examples--regularly reviewing development plans, day-to-day coaching on being a better manager, time and money set aside for development activities, sharing of resources like books and articles on management practices, and the consideration of management development as part of the strategic planning process. Management development can and must occur even without the visible support of senior management, but the effectiveness of that process is greatly enhanced if top management plays an active role.

Finally, accountability regarding development also sends a message about what is important. It is one thing to write a management development plan; it is another to really hold people accountable for accomplishing objectives. Development objectives should be viewed as a way to improve performance over time. There should be regular milestones and reasons for those milestones. If individuals are unable to progress along this path at a reasonable rate, there should be a limit to how far they can progress as managers. Promotions should be based on results and not on length of service.

Playing the role of coach. Even though development is in the hands of each manager, day-to-day coaching sends a message about what is really valued and helps facilitate learning. By acting as a reality advisor, being a catalyst, providing support and offering guidance, senior managers play an important role in the learning process. Being able to coach is an important skill for anyone in management.

Building the team. It is not enough to develop strong individual players--the entire management team must play together well. Creating opportunities for cross-functional teamwork, rotating assignments and teambuilding sessions are all ways to strengthen the management team.

Part of building the team involves identifying successors. In order to move on, there must be someone who is willing and able to take over responsibility. Building bench strength is an important part of facilitating the process. To do this, senior managers must be extremely confident in their own abilities and comfortable with their own journey. The paradox of management is that the more effective you become, the less you are needed. Accepting that as true and important to the organization's success, good managers continually try to work themselves out of a job. For some, especially those who have yet to assume control of their own development, this is a very scary thought. The irony is that if you don't take responsibility, what you fear most--failure and rejection--will eventually happen as the skills you started the job with are no longer enough to ensure success. As managers develop and change their way of thinking and acting, the likelihood increases that organizations will be able to change so they can remain competitive.

William K. Fitzgerald is vice president, organization development and human resources, Comstock Michigan Fruit Division of Curtice Burns Foods in Rochester, N.Y.

Scott Allen is an organization development consultant in Hewlett Packard's Little Falls site in Wilmington, Del.

COPYRIGHT 1993 Society for Human Resource Management
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