I feel I have been lucky in my career to have reported into exceptional people managers who have nurtured and coached me in a way that has helped me to progress and it’s now my time to do the same.
My favourite part of the role is seeing people I manage fulfil their potential and supporting them on their journey of reaching their goals, enabling them to be the best they can be. I think being a good people manager comes down to understanding your team, their motivations, their strengths and weaknesses and providing them with the right environment where they can excel in their areas of strengths but also be comfortable in accepting their weaknesses and working on them. Some of the best achievements of my career has included seeing my team progress.
How I define my own success is when I have a team of performing, happy people. I’m always transparent with my team and enable the team to bring their true selves to work and also speak to me when there’s an issue so we can work through it together. I physically spend time with my team every week and have regular catch-ups to ensure we have a relationship with regular open communication. I understand the benefits of formal appraisals, however, I would never want to be in a situation where we rely on formal check-ins. I take the time to understand individual team members and how they prefer to be communicated with and managed so I can anticipate where they will require my support.
Giving my team the information, tools and environment to be the best they can be will always be my main driver and determine my own success.
