If you ask what makes a good manager, you’ll get a lot of different answers. A good manager communicates well, knows when to delegate, keeps the big picture in mind, etc. This is all true but it also takes something else, a special insight into yourself as well as others – you have to know what you don’t know.
Here’s what I mean by knowing what you don’t know. When I left active duty in the Navy, I joined the Reserves as was assigned as the Division Officer for a particular unit. The first night, I held a quick division meeting and introduced myself. As soon as I asked if anyone had questions, a young petty officer said “Yes ma’am, what makes you qualified to run this unit?” Before I could answer, the Chief Petty Officer standing beside me pointed out the bars on my collar and said “these make her qualified, and I’ll see you after the meeting”. I knew that the Chief was going to lay into the kid for the way he phrased the question but it was a valid question. Just because I was in charge didn’t mean I knew anything and my first job was to find out what I didn’t know.
Turns out that I not only had to learn about the unit mission and equipment but I also had to learn about the organization. I learned my role and how to partner with my Chief and not be his “boss”. I learned that if you have to say “that’s an order” and it’s not a safety issue, your people have lost respect for you as a leader. Better to get it right from start.
So how do you do that? It’s not hard but it means taking a long look at yourself. Here’s one way. A SWOT analysis can be used to analyze a situation or problem before starting to strategize a solution. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. I see no reason not to do one for yourself. Take a piece of paper and divide it into four sections. Label each with a SWOT characteristic. Start with your job description and write down all of things for which you are responsible. Place each duty in the correct box. Is it a threat to success because you don’t know how to do it? Is it strength because you’ve been doing it all your life? Do the same thing with your education, your belief system, or even what you think the job should be. Add anything you can think of that will help you figure out where you are, what you know and what you don’t know. When you’re done, examine the grid for things you can do to capitalize on your strengths, shore up your weaknesses, explore your opportunities and neutralize your threats. Not only will you find out what you don’t know, you’ll be shocked at how much you do.