Great Specialist, but Poor Manager (As published in HR Monthly)

There comes a point in the career of most professionals that if they are to progress further they must complete the transition from specialist to manager. Some flourish and go on to executive management positions. Others flounder in their new role as a manager despite the fact that they have been competent professional specialists. What are the critical skills that get professionals successfully through this transition and how are they acquired? While there a few fortunate professionals who almost intuitively pick up the ability to manage, the great majority of those who successfully make the transition to manager do so by recognising that they must learn new skills. I began my career as an industrial chemist in manufacturing industry and went on to managerial positions in manufacturing, mining and construction industries. This brought me into close contact with many engineers and scientists who had become managers. At the time it was clear that some were indeed, very good managers while others managed poorly. However, it was not until later, that, with the benefit of an MBA, exposure several other professions and experience as a management trainer and consultant, I was able to critically compare the two groups and identify the specific management skills that the good managers had and the bad ones did not. Later again, I consulted Karpin which confirmed that my observations were indeed representative of the bigger picture across most professionals employed by Australian industry in 1995. As to what has happened since, I suspect that, given the trimming of middle-management ranks in the nineties, very few of the bad managers that I observed would be appointed to a management position today and those already in them would be lucky to have kept their jobs. Professionals need new Management Skills The skills needed to make a transition from specialist to manager are those that will enable him or her to manage staff, to build constructive relationships with their fellow managers and strategic partners and to help their company to achieve its strategic goals. Motivation and leadership skills are essential for effective staff management. Managers’ ability to motivate staff comes from their power to administer rewards and punishment. Professionals who manage badly tend to place an over-reliance on punishment to get results. This can create more problems than it solves. For example, I have seen managers use their power to suspend staff from duties as a punishment for absenteeism. Irresponsible employees saw this as a positive hoot, giving them an opportunity for yet another day off. Good managers, on the other hand, are not afraid of using punishment, but have also learnt to use rewards to motivate their staff – by recognising individual needs, by redesigning their jobs or by setting challenging goals The absence of leadership skills impacts very differently in different situations. When managing people outside their own profession, poor managers see leadership as nothing more than barking orders. They usually get compliance, but at the expense of disempowered employees (and often lost productivity). When they are managing specialists from their own profession, eg. engineers in construction organisations, or lawyers in a legal firm , they go to the other extreme and delegate to the point of abnegation of their own responsibility. For example, one manager defied his own manager rather than insist six of his employees change their work practices to suit the organisation’s new strategy. As a result the six soon made themselves redundant while his more competent staff left the organisation in disgust. Managers that have successfully made the transition from specialists understand when its appropriate to delegate, and by how much. They lead change by example; modelling the new behaviours that they expect of their staff. Possibly the most difficult part of the transition is the need for managers to build constructive relationships with their fellow managers, suppliers and customers, many of whom are from different disciplines. Specialists often work in isolation. They have considerable autonomy and are generally left alone to focus on their task. As a result they develop their own jargon and tend to devalue other management functions such as marketing, or human resources usually labelling them simply as ‘admin’. Life as a manager could not be more different. Each day brings a stream of interruptions and the continuing need to negotiate (or compete for resources) with other managers. The good managers are prepared to accept that their professional expertise is only one of many critical competencies that will ensure business success. They quickly pick up the skills needed to communicate with their peers, customers and suppliers and to contribute as equal (not superior) team members. By contrast, the poor managers adopt a bunker mentality, locking themselves in their office so that they can get some ‘real work’ done without being bothered by ‘admin’. Consequently, they are often excluded from critical discussions to the detriment of the function they manage, their staff and their own careers. Another element of the transition to manager is the requirement to make strategic decisions. Specialists may be given autonomy as to how they work on a project or deal with a client, but they do not generally decide which projects they work on and which clients they will serve. Managers, on the other hand, spend much of their time making (or contributing to) thee important decisions. Strategic decision-making requires an ability to step back and see the big picture. After a career of focussing on their own specialisation, some professionals find this very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. As a result, they tend to ‘micro-manage’ their staff, getting so lost in operational details that they completely lose sight of the big picture. For example, one Production Manager I knew insisted on personally signing every purchase order despite the fact that his direct reports were conscientious, highly qualified people. At the same time he was blissfully unaware of an emerging industrial relations situation that almost totally destroyed the company. The good news for aspiring managers is that all these skills can be learnt. Once learnt, they should be regularly practiced until they are applied automatically. Professional who wish to become managers need to first acquire skills in strategic and people management and in managing relationships and then seek out every opportunity to demonstrate that they can apply them. If a permanent management position is not available, temporary positions eg. filling in for a manager on leave, may provide that opportunity. For further assistance visit Change & Perform's Management Development Services or contact the principal Kerry Feldman