The true test for Management is Performance

In a recent conversation with an ex-colleague, I was asked the question: “What must I do to go to the next level in my career?”.

Answering it took some thought and consideration.

There are two types of people in an organisation: managers and non-managers - and the answer to that question differs considerably for both groups.

When non-managers ask, “what must I do to be a success in my role?”, I encourage them to focus on their core competence – be the very best at what you do: Maximise your strengths; Minimise your weaknesses; Commit to continual improvement…and hopefully your manager will do the rest.

There are other less general suggestions that I offer, such as: work hard; be humble: practise discipline and good manners; communicate accurately and efficiently; and never let your manager down.

However, management requires all of the above and more.

A rather simplistic paradigm is that non-managers are responsible for effort and managers are responsible for results.

All a good manager can a…