BLT Diaries: My management credo in the making

As DMB put it succinctly, So much to Say!!!

Been 4 months since I left the secure walls of B-School and even lesser time since I’ve been working as a manager… well, management trainee to be precise... Too early to be giving gyaan you say... I’d agree. But never too early to pen down observations... not surprisingly, its stuff that is mostly just common sense and nothing that calls for an MBA to understand. Yet, I realize now that its not so much the knowledge but the actual implementation that brings into picture the multitude of complexities that I hadn’t given much thought to.

Most of my management credo, I derive from my past two bosses (two really great managers in my opinion) and their style of working. But recently, as a management trainee, I have been able to observe a lot many managers from the perspective of a manager-in-the-making. As an observer, I could not help but analyze the situation and dig into the why’s and how’s. (An occupational hazard you could say :P ).

And the result, well, adding a few more decrees to my own evolving management credo!!!

“Anything can be, and everything that can be, will, very likely be, uncertain”
What’s the big deal in being a manager u ask? Well, after having happily spent my time as a s/w developer, the biggest trouble I had was getting used to working with an enormous level of uncertainty. Before my current role as a management trainee I told myself, “Hell, I’ve worked with clients who change their requirement more often than they breathe… I can handle uncertainty.” What did I know!! It has been mind boggling, the number of factors that are variable when you assume the role of a manager… things which are difficult to foresee. Anything ranging from hunting down a vendor who has absconded, handling emergency procedures when a sudden storm hits your tiny town and forces you to shut down and what not!

“Ye all shall learn the most sacred art – Follow Up”
As for the next big challenge I have realized I will continuously face as a manager, it’s a glaring complexity one has to learn to work with and is something that is not always taught in a B-School. I’m talking about the fact that as a manager your performance depends not only on how you work and instead relies on the performance of so many others who directly or indirectly contribute/affect your work. The last couple of months, my major learning has revolved around a seemingly very silly yet vital concept –“Follow Up”. Those of you who have some corporate experience probably know what I’m talking about here.
It’s the art of getting things done, pushing people to work for you and doing all that without getting on their nerves. That said, it is not a very easy thing to do when you are a trainee – you know, when one is neither a boss nor a subordinate.

“Earth calling moon rocket!” (Doesn’t exactly kling like a decree, but bear with me :) )
The calling!! One of the “Tintin” comic book bubbles that says “Earth calling moon rocket… come in moon rocket” is the source of this odd title for this decree. It is not a lesson in humility or any such thing… its just that the elation and excitement of the first job as a manager (more so when its the first assignment as a management trainee) which makes it very easy to lose sight of ground reality. You know, the “wave the wand, and change the world” kinda attitude.
Don’t get me wrong here. I believe in thinking BIG and making it happen. Neither am I a compulsive “look before you leap” person. Rather, what I’m trying to say is “Make sure you know where the ground is, how hard you may land if you fall, and leap only if you think you can handle a fall & the broken bones just as gracefully as you would handle a successful leap”. Non-comic book version of this decree,
“Thou shall respect and revere reality whilst thinking big”

To be continued…