Foundations of Management - Personal Learning Journal

Week 1 Foundations of Management

I used to believe that to become a good manager you should have qualities and skills such as: being good at handling people, having excellent communication skills, good leadership skills and passion for what you do.

From what I have been learning through all my courses this week, I discover that managerial work is way more complex than what we commonly see on advertisements or movies. It is not enough being good with people. Managers should have a list of competencies that will make managing a long time successful career.

I believe that the way you manage people, decisions and information help managers to ‘grown from the inside’. I think the essential competencies required to be a good manager are:

• Open to find and search for new opportunities/opinions: Being aware of what is happening with your team or your company, will help you to become a better person and manager. Managers should always be seeking for opportunities to learn and grow. One of the most difficult things managers must do is listen. Being able to accept advice and criticism will help you to achieve your goals.
• Ready for some commitments: Managers should be ready to make commitments not only with themselves but with the people surrounding them. They must realise that sometimes is necessary to push you out of the comfort zone to create wonderful things.
• Courage to take risks and challenges: Managers must be innovative, adaptable and engaging to set up and develop products, tackle problematic circumstances or come up with innovative ideas. By taking a risk and accepting challenges, managers accept and enhance these characteristics or skills.
• Bring out the best in others: Creating a link/bond with people who work with you is essential to have a harmonious environment.  Encouraging people to exceed what is expected, letting them know that their ideas matter and creating an open environment; will help managers to become better persons. Therefore, when you are the best version of yourself, you will be in the position to help and allow people to grow with you.

Week 2 Roles & Function of Management

Based on the studies presented by Mintzberg, I consider that management is a difficult endeavour because it is very hard to apply all the managerial concepts together.

Mintzberg explained that good management is thoughtful judgement based on vision, analysis and experiences. Having critical thinking, leadership skills and intellectual autonomy are competencies hard to acquire and to apply.

When we discuss all the interpersonal, informational and decisional roles described by Mintzberg, such as: representing the value of your organisation, having a vision, sharing information, generating new ideas, bringing people together, among so many others, it seems that all of those skills can be applied together just in a perfect scenario.

The truth is that not in every day of your life you will inspire people, or feeling emotionally stable to bring out the best in others. People do not commonly come across with innovative ideas, and sometimes you will need to fix issues that you are not going to know how to handle. By saying this, I mean that you cannot be a perfect manager every day of your life, but as a manager, we can embrace those difficulties and do our best by frequently applying most of the skils previously described.

Week 3 Developing your Approach to Managing

I would like to become the type of manager that uses their intellectual autonomy to make the right decisions, the one who seeks to expand their critical thinking by not taking things for granted. I think that experiences and previous knowledge can help us to make decisions, but is does not mean that you will be taking the ‘best’ decision.

When we questioned ourselves, we start digging and looking for options, resources and people that can help us find the right answer, therefore we will be seeing the situation from multiple perspectives.

Also, I want to become a manager who seeks and pursues excellence by encouraging people’s work or abilities. A manager that is able to inspire others and make them feel comfortable with their work environment, by creating a place where people can express their thoughts and ideas without feeling afraid.

I want to help people and lead a team that feels motivated to share experiences and concerns. I want us to be able to make effective use of our metacognitive knowledge to overcome difficulties.

Week 4 Interpersonal Skills

As a manager, I will be holding space for people because I would like to become a support for those who need and require my help. I will be there for the people who feel vulnerable or afraid of certain situations. I think that as a leader you should learn how to become a facilitator for your team.

When you are holding space as a manager, you serve as a supportive guidance or coach who won’t be judging, instead you will be listening with emotional intelligence. As it was mentioned in our lecture, emotional intelligence is “The ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, and the ability to discriminate or discern among those and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).

As I expressed previously in my other weekly reflections, one of the most important skills that managers should have is the ability to bring out the best in others. As such, in order to motivate your team, it is important to create a secure space for people to talk about their emotions and feelings.

Finally, it is also important to understand that we won’t solve other people’s lives by holding a space, instead we will provide guidance to overcome difficulties with mindfulness and a growth mindset.

Week 5 Managing Team and Organisations

I will create an optimal environment for the people I manage, by creating open spaces of communication. As a manager, I will allow people to share their ideas and I will consider their thoughts and recommendation to make further decisions. In that way, the people I manage will know they have a significant role within our team and the organisation.

In addition, I will encourage and recognise the success of the people I will be working with, in order to create optimal levels of motivations, by providing them with awards or benefits. Also, I will be offering them the opportunity to grow inside the company, as such encouraging them to work even harder.