Competition for management jobs intensifies with each passing year and a poor economy just makes things worse. So, if you are betting your financial welfare on your next management position and subsequent promotions, you will now need to be much better prepared to capture those increasingly scarce opportunities than you might previously have realized.

The best way to take on this challenge and compete effectively is by actively investing in your development. You must choose to increase your marketability and maximize your value. Whether you are a junior manager or a seasoned executive, it’s certain you will benefit from optimizing the development of your foundational management skills.

The need for this investment is self-evident, but how do you actually go about evolving and growing your capabilities? Indeed, what are the process and the most efficient way to navigate the vast array of potential materials, books, training and recommendations that are out there? Well, let’s begin by identifying the simplest outline to this process that will help you minimize your investment of time and energy, yet maximize your returns in self-improvement as an effective manager.

Consider this 6-step process:

1. Understand which are the most fundamental skills that effective managers might require in their day-to-day work.

2. Develop a basic (yet comprehensive) understanding of what is involved with each skill and, then…

3. Quickly evaluate and rate your current competence with each skill. Are you excellent (E), average (A), or poor (P)?

4. Review your career path. Assess which of all these generic skills are immediately needed for elevating your current work and more specifically, targeting that next position that you seek.

5. Pick and prioritize just those skills you will develop next. Build a timeline and plan.

6. Execute your plan and methodically revisit the process of self-development as you progress through your career.

The process is straightforward enough and applicable to all managers, regardless of their seniority or the industry in which they work. The same fundamental steps even apply to self-employment, entrepreneurship or any personal development. However, navigating each step on your own, in an integrated, efficient and cohesive fashion could prove easier said than done! So, let’s consider your options and how to engage.

Many individuals spend a lifetime understanding which are the critical management skills they might need, then laboriously gleaning an understanding of each. This is generally a hit-and-miss process with many dead ends spent learning skills and behaviors that do not necessarily match your very specific and unique needs. Traditionally, this is the daunting option we face. There are many authors and bloggers that can provide you lists of the potential skills you might eventually need; unfortunately, most are less complete than others. Similarly there are numerous training classes, books and presentations that will let you learn the details of each skill. But again, nobody needs to master every skill and certainly there should be some priority order to your learning. We want to quickly evaluate skills we really need and then invest in learning only those that have a real priority in our unique career path.

Clearly, what is ideally needed for managers is a hands-on guide to walk you through this entire process. A simple set of instructions that rapidly move through a complete and integrated process, as described above. There is only one such guide and you can find it here.   You can choose to take this particular option, or not. The important thing is that you have a process and make progress.

The job market is tough and good management spots are becoming increasingly difficult to win. If you need to develop your skills to more effectively target desirable positions you will inevitably follow such a 6-part process (as described above), anyway. The trick is to choose to advance, enjoy the experience and reach your goals as quickly as you need. So, make the decision, pick a path and develop a plan! My best wishes to you in your career and personal development experience.

Ian R Mackintosh is the author of  Empower your Inner Manager.

Most managers I observe are modestly-to-poorly organized. And, I see hundreds every year. The highly successful managers I know are normally very organized themselves, or they have well-organized staff running around after them to ensure good order is preserved. So, you can be extremely successful and not organized, but then you better be able to attract and retain a supporting cleanup crew!

Being organized takes serious effort. If you want to excel in any role and move up the ladder you need to get results and bring value to the organization. Inevitably, being well-organized usually becomes a requirement for all professionals.

Oddly, most people I know believe they already have great personal organization skills. Yet a casual glance often suggests they do not. As a result they tend to add to problems causing:

• Diminishing personal time
• Issues with meeting schedules. Both quality and quantity of deliverables often suffers
• Inability to take on or avoid surprise events. These seem to occur regularly
• Health issues
• Professional image challenges
• Damaged relationships. Poor personal interactions
• etc.

Sound familiar? The work environment has become increasingly challenging as economic pressures have continued and work-place competition has increased. Given the downside of all the issues listed (above) why wouldn’t you invest in tuning up your personal level of organization? By definition, the very significant opposites of those items listed above become the upside, as you improve!

Let’s take a practical view of areas we should consider when upgrading our level of personal organization:

Personal Discipline

Anyone can learn to be organized; this is a skill and behavior, not a genetic attribute. However, upgrades must be planned and scheduled with improvements prioritized. Focus must be only upon critical issues and real results.

Targeting Problem Areas

Look for observable and/or reported disorder (paper stacks or piles, complaints, expressions of un-serviced needs from others, etc.). Similarly, consider disruptive events that upset productive work as target areas for improvement. Be sure that data flow through you (and your organization) is processed with convenient and appropriate timing. Consider new or existing systems that will better organize projects, workspace, your routine and yourself.

Organizing the Workspace

Just apply two rules, ”out of sight, out of mind” and, “use it or lose it.” Regularly used items should be readily accessible and those rarely used should be stored. Example: typically you would have pens accessible and scissors in a drawer! The same principle equally applies to electronic equivalents. Desks and walls should have low occupancy and no clutter. Again, apply this same rule for electronic systems and information in their setup and displays.

Development of New Systems

The world is built from interrelated systems. Our own systems should be well-defined, effectively planned, while simultaneously being efficient, maintainable and simple. Information and data should flow easily from one place to the next and discarded when future usage is minimal. When a routine or activity can be improved or automated, it should be. Get a good return on your investment (ROI) for all such improvements!

Integrating the Workspace with Electronic Systems

Process information where it is best suited. This may be in paper form on the desk, data in electronic databases, or e-mails/texts on mobile computing devices, and so on. Stationary and mobile electronic systems should work seamlessly with one another in individually and collectively functional systems; make only cost effective repairs and improvements to optimize such systems. Rapid evolution and emergence of new products offer huge potential for system improvements, so keep an open mind/eye/ear for practical opportunities.

Leveraging Travel and Commuting

Always pack like a minimalist: carry only extras for likely circumstances, and leave the rest behind! If you work in transit, make realistic plans for when work can occur that is convenient and achievable. Use hands-free, voice-based tools where practical, safe and efficient; only carry (often heavy, space-consuming) hardware setups when there is real certainty for convenient use while in transit.

New Gadgets and Applications

There is a constant stream of new tools. Make sure your selections integrate well with the way you do operate now or are prepared to work, in the future. Think hard before you adopt a new tool or application; many products turn out to be toys rather than useful tools suitable for your personal systems. If their value is not clear, avoid altogether or toss them away quickly.

Getting better organized is not an occasional event; rather it’s an ongoing lifetime of discipline. So, it’s wiser to invest systematically and keep making progress as the march of time (and your career!) will inevitably dictate; change is both necessary and certain.

Most personal forward progress is made by investment. So, are you going to invest your time to figure out opportunities for improvement? Let’s face it, if there’s a march we all must eventually make anyway, then surely it’s better you proactively organize your steps!

This blog represents a single departure from my normal style. You’re my customer (reader) so here’s the opportunity to order what you want, or to tune-up what I provide. You can contact me, here.

My blog is for those who want to control and improve their career opportunities and will work for that privilege. In general, Blogs are written for one of three primary reasons; Bloggers:

• Believe their thoughts are important. Hopefully, a belief based in fact not ego
• Want to sell you something. Example: I think you should read my book.
• Need the attention. Related to both points above, in some regards!

The subject areas for this blog do not vary. They are, essentially: career management, job skills and tips, job-market factors and (work-related) self-development. Mostly it focuses on questions recently posed to myself and of obvious general-interest and value to a broader audience. The style is necessarily precise and the content provides the most complete guide/introduction to its particular subject within the scope a blog can offer. So, you can learn fast from a quick read.

There are many variations recommended for style and format, but Bloggers are most commonly advised to follow a general writing approach:

• Have an attention-getting title
• Open fast, hold attention and make a point or statement
• Stay within 600-800 words
• Provide multiple links to supporting evidence(4-6 seems typical)
• Prominently reference anyone to whom you are beholden (Example: the host of the blog-website, if you are guesting)
• Use the body of the blog to confirm/prove the opening point
• Close by telling people what you told them, as we say. Then, repeat the main point and make a call to action
• Oh yes, proof it well and watch the grammar, etc.

A tried and proven presentation style, but is it really exactly what people want? Is it what you want? The method can be perhaps a little dry, even for the writer. I have read innumerable blogs and often noticed a surprising and common theme. Many of those most read are not well organized to best provide useful and practical information. Frankly, they are even sometimes more accurately described as rambling thoughts than useful guides. However, this style is often very popular.

Blogs get reposted, referenced, quoted, tweeted and can show up anywhere. Personally, my primary cares are that readers get what they want and that they are many. So, while recognizing that everyone’s diverse needs can’t be met at the same time, the better this blog’s style and content matches your reported needs, the better.

As a reader of blogs (I assume we all read many) there are some you prefer, even some you read over again and dwell upon. Perhaps you’d like to see the questions people send to me? Want a lighter style, humor, or anecdotes? Should I have guest bloggers? Maybe a more rambling presentation of fleeting ideas and points is more appealing? It is quite likely you already know what makes a blog compelling for you. So, be sure to share your ideas, as I’d like to know, too.

The better you describe your likes and needs, the better support I can provide. I am really looking forward to hearing your thoughts! So, fire away. Here again is the link to reach me.

Like many San Francisco Bay Area residents, I too have been entangled in pointless, post-Super Bowl “what went wrong” discussions. One theory considered the inherent conflicts to team success brought on by personal, high-stakes objectives and agendas held individually by players, coaching staff and ownership. Certainly, at the highest level everyone wants to win and is ”on the same team.” Yet the very skills bringing each person to a team and defining them as exceptional are the same things that must sometimes be subordinated to best truly help the team. For example a great receiver may just need to be a convincing decoy in some plays, or, a fiscally astute manager might sometimes need to pay a higher price to get exactly the right player the coach really needs. And, so it is with all managers and team play in every business.

Despite the fact that individuals are often promoted because they are capable of operating effective teams and groups, they must also be selfless as team players on their boss’ staff. The very strength of your (leadership) skills, if not carefully managed, can sometimes be a liability to your skill as a team player (and vice versa)!

People who invest in companies, products, and groups are very concerned that the team representing their interests are the best available. Regarding teamwork they care, What is the team’s:

Track record (what have they accomplished?)

Ability to work together (do they get along well?)

Ability to adapt (how well do they adapt to changing business goals and situations?)

Most sporting interests and every modern business purports to believe in empowered teams, with varying degrees of influence through less (or, sadly, sometimes more!) authoritarian managers. The motivation to establish such teams is the expectation they bring benefits including:

Motivated participants

Access to ground-level ideas

Environment of sustained progress

Nimble action

Ability to adapt

Improved communications

In addition to capturing the above-listed benefits, such effective, empowered teams free up the manager for higher-level tasks. Additionally, these teams should require only light management and oversight to ensure no overshoots in mission and/or responsibilities taken on by the team. Motivational rewards and recognition should always be built into the operation of such groups. (Only) when operated correctly, powerful examples of such teams are the quality circles particularly visible in the automotive industry.

In business there are really only three types of teams that might be established by management:

1. Tiger teams/task forces. Groups temporarily established in order to address specific issues and/or resolve particular problems within defined timelines, resources and goals. They may be cross functional or organizationally vertical.
2. Standing groups/committees. These continue through time to fulfill a mission or set of responsibilities. They also have defined problems to attack, with specific resources and goals, but without particular timeframe; again these may be either cross functional or vertical in their focus.
3. Informal teams. Often self-assembled but sometimes created by management with occasional and ad hoc participation from within the group. They are good for facilitating informal communications, motivating participants and are capable of identifying underlying problems and highlighting concerns to management. Their informal nature means results are unpredictable as no specific goals are assigned unless one of the above team-types is created to seek specific results. Discussion groups organized around identified issues or particular professional disciplines are examples of this type.

When establishing any team it’s essential to make sure it’s correctly missioned and developed. The right leaders need to be in place, issues explained, any resources made available and relevant goals clearly defined. After commissioning there should be regular, adequate yet unobtrusive oversight, without undue direction. The team must track actions and have obstructions and impediments removed appropriately while thoughtful risk-taking and team action is encouraged. As always, the team should have their results showcased when needed and be rewarded/recognized appropriately.

Now, all of these principles work really well in business, and as I think about the analogies in professional sports I can see that many of these same principles (certainly not all!) are embraced in that environment, too. For example, half-time talks are meant to adjust a team’s plans and review what is and is not working well. Team leaders play a role in these discussions and the entirety is normally overseen and managed by coaching staff. In some cases troubling scenarios are reported where ownership/investors, engage, too! Not surprisingly, this is remarkably like any other business, even down to the crisis management and frighteningly short time-frames often required for adjustment.

It seems sports teams are highly tuned to respond to sudden changes, as indeed are some businesses; the face-to-face customer service function in general comes to mind. I just wonder if much of what has more recently entered the business world as team development and crisis management came from sports or was it vice versa? In either case, that Super Bowl loss is still weighing on my mind. So, like many other sufferers it only remains for me to read the reviews, accept the most plausible explanations, file them away and get over it!

Follow me  @ianrmackintosh

Late last week while performing some online research I was inadvertently sidetracked into the subject of Bullying in the Workplace. Normally, I would ignore such a distraction (and specifically tell others to avoid such defocused behavior!), but knowing several current sufferers in bad job situations, this interesting subject inevitably drew my attention. And, although reported numbers can differ, this problem is globally accepted as quite common, even sometimes being referred to as a “widespread phenomenon.” So, I waded through blogs, articles and reference pieces to understand others’ opinions and current thinking.

I was a little surprised to find that much short-form advice offered to “victims” was less direct than expected and even sometimes seemed based in a need for cathartic release! It also struck me just how diverse bullying in the workplace can be, ranging from occasional unsupportive comments, through sustained denigration into forms of sexual harassment and even cyber abuse. So, are you being abused now, or, have you ever been? Know any colleagues or friends who are suffering such problems? Sadly, it is statistically likely you do!

Do we always recognize when we are being bullied? It seems to me that if you think you’re being abused, you probably are. And, if anyone comments about negative treatment you receive, you might certainly already need to act. When you take action your recovery is underway and you are re-establishing control of your work life. For bullying to actually cease, a profound change must occur:

Either, the bully ”sees the light.” Very unlikely unless they are acting-out short-term stress problems brought on by (say) family and/or work issues that are truly abnormal and realistically can and will subside. Here the perpetrator needs to be professionally exposed to concerns and the results caused by their behavior.

Or, you and the bully part ways. This is typically the most common, sensible and essential outcome.

I personally don’t believe that bullies with long-term behavior problems can usually be fixed by training and counsel. Improvements seem possible, but fixes seem far less likely. Even if there appears to be hope, their victims are best served not sticking around to await the cure. They already have their own challenges, so should normally remove themselves to improved situations and begin their own forward progress.

A change of bosses will only happen in a couple of ways:

1. The boss is moved, promoted away or changes companies. Don’t languish long in a bad situation waiting for this to happen unless there is some real certainty it will occur.
2. You move into another part of the organization or change companies.

Once you recognize a bullying problem you need to plan your strategy. Frustratingly, even during tough economic times this might often mean you moving. However, a short-term inconvenience and upheaval is well worth the effort that can result in a happier work-life and perhaps even benefit your health. Be sure to use all the positive work experience and knowledge you gained in your (bullied) position to help you go to a new role, rather than allow the bullying drive you from your current role. Always move positively to a better future, never away from the past.

Bullies should not be allowed to work their ways without recourse.  We each have a human and professional duty to protect and help their victims. So, be sure to seek advice and guidance from known-trustworthy colleagues and influencers to help you ensure that bullies you observe (or leave behind) are well known within their companies. The goal should only be to deposit sound and balanced warnings with appropriate professionals who must take action, despite any temptations to seek vindication or revenge!

If you were ever such a victim, be sure to recognize and reflect upon this fact. You will not repair and grow without such acknowledgment. The worse and longer-term your abuse, the more important it is you understand even your own role in any inadvertent acceptance or tolerance that was involved. Be sure that any short-term situations you experience don’t take a toll you fail to recognize. Lastly, we shouldn’t obsess disproportionately about the past and if you find yourself doing so, involve others (quietly and privately). There are many on-line resources that can assist you and provide guidance.

Sometimes we undergo and accept abuse in the workplace which we fail even to recognize. Only upon reflection, does its reality become clear. So again, were you ever bullied? Did you take back control and turn that negative situation into a positive growth experience?