As professionals advance in their professional development, they find more and more requirements to achieve a managerial position. Bachelor's, postgraduate or master's degrees are no longer enough to be selected.
Neither the experiences in different companies, nor the number of people who have had reporting to them. It seems a path that when they think they have traveled it opens up to new needs.
Some years ago it was possible to grow in companies for the simple fact of seniority. They knew they would occupy the next higher position when the person occupying it left or retired.
That old story was replaced with a “professional graduated from…” profile and learning potential and the ability to “delegate and lead people” were assessed.
Young, entrepreneurial and proactive Managers emerged capable of managing the constant changes of the time.
The knowledge, skills and attitudes began to be considered as a "System" that had to function completely.
Professionals did (and do) postgraduate and MBA's with the aim of adding knowledge and broadening their vision of the business.
The skills to use management methods and tools were added to the knowledge of achieving a global vision of the business as a way to provide new contributions and work together with all areas of the organization.
Today, then, one begins to observe what is the "attitude" of the manager in various situations, whether to lead, negotiate, influence others and all those that show him as a Natural Leader and not as a "boss" who he hides behind his post to be a leader.
This permanent demand led us to carry out an investigation in multinational companies, some with a presence in Argentina and others not. The idea was to inquire about which competencies they value the most in their leaders.
The result was that 60% of the competencies that are sought are related to attitude and the rest to the Educational level and specific experience in the areas that concern them.
The following table shows the companies consulted and lists the conditions that they value when selecting a person for a driving position.
Each of these competencies, closely linked to attitude, represent a real challenge for those who want to occupy or occupy leadership positions and if one delves into them, it will be seen how to be a leader it is necessary to recognize that the most important thing will be to guide their action to build Trust as a condition to generate a boss-collaborator bond and without the ability to properly manage interpersonal relationships, this becomes very difficult.
This research was carried out by Lic. Edgardo Fernández Feijóo for Gloria Cassano & Asociados
To some extent, all of us have these skills. To develop them, since that is what it is about, a personal effort is required that is born with the understanding of the level at which each one is, and from there, begin to enhance it.
On the one hand, it is about working in a conscious way reflecting on ourselves and trying to find concrete examples of how much we have developed of each one.
On the other hand, it is about asking those around us to give us their point of view on how they see us in them.
Choose those people we trust for their objectivity and not looking for those who will simply try to satisfy our ego. Sometimes it is a family member, other times a friend or a couple from our work, perhaps a current or former boss and, why not, a collaborator from the present or the past.
From these results we will be able to obtain a table that will allow us to observe the degree of development of each competence. One by one. Until discovering the gap between the optimum and what is possessed.
Narrowing that gap will be the most challenging exercise to improve.
Although all are closely related and reformulating one will have an impact on the rest, ideally they are worked on individually.
Seen at first glance, it seems something very simple: I evaluate myself, I ask to be evaluated and… I modify attitudes.
Generally, a change is not achieved if it is not accompanied. Just as it is important to pursue a career in order to learn, to pursue a postgraduate degree to increase knowledge and skills, etc.
The consultancy, based on the aforementioned research, created the Competency Development Program (PDCA) for leaders.
Starting from the premise that although there are different degrees of difficulty, any skill can be developed, with greater or lesser effort, following the phases of the development process.
These phases are common to all competences and the difference lies in the level of difficulty for their development.
1. Recognition: When I identify competence, I perceive it and see it in the behavior of others, but I cannot explain or exercise it through my own behavior.
2. Comprehension: I can explain the competence, I know what to do, what the person thinks when acting, what the other person must do to develop it, but I am not able to do it myself.
3. Self-evaluation: I understand what my current situation is and the path to achieving the development of the competence.
It is not only my evaluation, but I accept the perception of others as valid and realistic, since their behavior towards me will be a function of that perception.
4. Exercise: I put into practice, within a safe and controlled context, the necessary behaviors to begin the development of the competence. I seek feedback to make sure I do it correctly.
5. Habit: I repeat the behaviors accepted by me and positively evaluated by others in my daily actions, in all situations of my life. Repeated use of the correct habit becomes the role accepted by others.
6. Feedback: I seek true and objective information on the perception that others have of my behaviors, to achieve a realistic estimate of myself, as a way to continue on the right path for the constant development of my competence.
This methodology allows us to recognize changes in three months, but fundamentally allows us to know a tool to put into practice every time we try to improve some aspect of our behavior.
The experience and results obtained on 75 professionals participating in this program during 2004 were highly satisfactory.
The improvements in attitudes not only allowed them to be better leaders but also to recognize the impact that their behavior has on other people and how influence is achieved to convince others while respecting individual values and principles.
