Helping others be their best

I think I am evolving as a manager.  Evolving in the sense that I started out as a Neanderthal (apologies to any "Cavemen" still among us).  Mostly my management style was organized around my telling people what to do.  As I evolved, I tried to get people to participate in the decision making and have "input".

What has led me to my next iteration of evolution - quite possibly all the way to Homo Habilis - is the recognition that rather than expect people to work and function just like I do, I should try to put them in situations and positions where their skills and capabilities will be put to the greatest use.

For example, let's assume I have a person who is a great "heads down" coder, who really enjoys coding but does not like to manage others.  In many cases, we'll say to that individual "you need to take on more responsibility and learn to lead others".  In some cases, I've seen coders who were ready and willing to take on leadership and project management positions.  In other situations I've seen the requirement thrust upon individuals who did not want it, and a train wreck ensued.

Now, what I am learning is to place people in roles and tasks where their skills and interests make them the ideal candidate for the role, even if there are other things that are equally or possibly even more important to be accomplished.  Rather than argue about project management, I'll assign that coder the most difficult tasks, the most complex coding algorithms and turn him loose.  Then I'll find the person who shines at project management and get them in that role.

Also, I've noticed that some people have gifts which we don't really take advantage of enough.  For example, one of our team has a real gift for public speaking.  He does not necessarily seek out these roles but is widely recognized as a great speaker and motivator when he does.  Well, what we should do is try to create a role where we take advantage of his strengths, and create a position that's valuable to our firm and let's him capitalize on his gifts.

The learning is that rather than consider each person a uniform cog in a great machine, we should recognize that each of us has strengths and weaknesses.  We should continue to seek opportunities to position people to 1) capitalize on their strengths - adding value to the firm and letting people work in things they enjoy and 2) challenging them to improve their weaknesses in a supportive way.  If we can do these things, we'll have a more satisfied, engaged workforce that enjoys coming to "work" and looks forward to new opportunities and challenges.