A new glance at the meaning of “Management”
Recently, some tech leads in my company have had the opportunity to attend a training focused on management. Nothing very exciting up to this point, right?
Wait and see.
MDE training (Manager Development Experience) at adidas has not been just the boring sequence of theory and tips (most common sense) you could expect from this kind of session. It has really supposed a great mind-opener session that, to be honest, goes beyond the work environment.
Growth Mindset
The main idea under this, I would say is “Growth Mindset”.
A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we cannot change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled.
A “growth mindset”, on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities.
A good indicator is to observe the way you react to some daily situations:
Challenges: do you avoid or embrace them?
Obstacles: do you give up easily?
Effort: do you see effort as something to avoid? or is it a path to wisdom?
Criticism: do you reject negative feedback? or do you see it as valuable information?
The success of others: do you feel threatened by the success of others? or do you find lessons in it?
For me, it is not so easy to accept negative feedback. It does not bother me, but I tend to think that the other person does not have the whole picture or all the information. Something to work in…
So we can conclude that cultivating a “growth mindset” is the basic seed for all future progress.
I would say, the first step to achieving whatever skill is firmly believing that you’ll be able to do it, even if you are not naturally gifted with the required capabilities. Anyway, empty “motivation” itself will not do the trick. You need something harder to achieve: Probably you will need discipline.
The MDE idea is of course to polish your weakness and those points where you have room for improvement.
Specific actions
Regarding specific actions I’ve chosen regarding my Assessment Report:
- Put regular effort into your personal and professional growth:
- Stay current and agile in your area of expertise:
Being a tech guy trying to keep your skills in shape leaves you not too many options here: You can only flee forward.
Like this, I’ve already acquired the habit of taking regular training (LinkedIn, Udemy… ). I usually take those related to what I’m working on at that moment or something that catches my interest.
But I think that the trick here is not just to learn, but apply. Creating things from nothing using your shiny new skills is great!
And if you can share (in your team, or through a blog… however) you are strongly reinforcing that you’ve learned.
- Actively teach and help others learn and grow:
Very related with this one, if you help others to grow, you become a reference
in some field and automatically your specific weight is increased.
Quite often, they told me, “Hey, I think about you when I have questions about this technical topic”. Even if I have not been able to help that person,
I usually give the proper hint or at least I spend some time researching and proposing ways. Active listening and empathy are keys here.
- Support existing structures and create new ones when necessary:
For this point, I would say that a company needs to be as flexible as its needs. So if your current structure is making things hard, at least try to propose and test something new. Delegate, or prove they can delegate on you.
- Turn ideas into meaningful outcomes that show results:
For sure, the best of ideas has no value at all if it is not materialized somehow. In fact, the only way to prove that an idea is a good one is through results.
It is not always easy to turn ideas into facts and actions. This is most times a team task, so for this, you’d better being able to “sell” your ideas. Not the idea itself, but the benefits. Once you have a positive environment for this, applying it, measuring it, and adjusting it if needed, would be the proper way to go.
In conclusion, I would say that becoming a leader means no other thing than serve and provide.
> Being the transforming element in your team, providing support, guide and knowledge,
> Being the oil in the gearboxes,
> Having a sight beyond your current project and environment,
> Creating solid relationships with your teammates.
Yes, authoritarian models are obsolete and outmoded, even more in the IT area where the main problem is to retain people and keep them engaged and passionate.
