How well do you understand your role?

Often people come up with one strategy after another to grow in their careers.

These days there are enough hacks that experts share on the internet to "negotiate better salaries", "network well to change jobs", and promote by building their personal brand and get that coveted "promotion".

But a powerful strategy that I don't get to hear a lot is the importance of understanding your role and the responsibilities associated with it - both the said and the unsaid.

A lot of people think that to succeed at your job you need to impress your boss to the extent it can be borderline "sycophancy".

However, sometimes a lot of what you cannot see from the outside might just be a better understanding of the role.

Those who understand their role well enough go the extra mile and leave no stone unturned to deliver more than "expectations". In that process, you make others comfortable and increase your own likability quotient to help you in more ways than anyone can imagine.

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” ― Sigmund Freud

This orientation is also a healthy approach towards getting better at your skills and helps you develop a positive mindset.

It will only make you focus on what you can control and takes your attention away from all those things that you cannot control.

So the next time when you start to think of negotiating a better salary or getting promoted at work, ask this fundamental question "How well do you understand your role?"

Is micromanaging a responsibility of a manager?

Management careers are complex. Whether you are leading a team with many direct reports or managing a project by influencing stakeholders without any authority, where you draw the line in the day-to-day operations & the overall management is a crucial element that decides success.

I found this article, an excerpt from the book titled Outskill: Future-Proofing Your Career In The Post-Pandemic World’ by Partha Basu, a simple yet powerful read to help us get better at management responsibilities.

An agile leader ensures that the atmosphere is right for each member of the team to own the deliverables, take decisions and be successful, neither micro-managing nor leaving everything to others.

Do you deprive your team of the dignity they deserve?

It is a busy life for people in senior positions, whatever may be the domain it is, be it the corporate world, public administration, not-for-profits etc.

As one grows in their career, one looks to scale all the processes they are driving and assumes that managing a team needs a similar approach. In that rush, it is highly likely that a leader could end up following a uniform process with every member of the team.

However, what separates humans from robots is the special attention we seek in every interaction. Those leaders who make their team members feel special are those who address the inherent needs and one of the needs for every human is "dignity".

How good are you at nourishing each of your relationships through this fundamental need to be of respect and honour? If this was your blindspot, the below article can change your orientation completely.

Results shouldn’t come at the expense of people. At the end of the day, your business is all about the people who work with you. Treating them with the respect they deserve gives them room to flourish in their own career. This in turn delivers far better results for your business down the line, because you will be able to reap the benefits of their increased motivation and effort. Treating workers with dignity helps them in their own growth and development so they can make even greater contributions.

Manager Maps

Next in the series of , I will be sharing an article to help 'People Managers' understand their role better.

If you are a "manager", do check out this newsletter which will help you be better at managing your team and develop your leadership skills. Most importantly don't forget to subscribe so you can receive every article directly to your email inbox.

Book(s) Discovery:

An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management - I discovered this book almost accidentally. I loved it right from the title to the index to the content.

The author's keenness to put together a body of knowledge on management, especially in the domain of Engineering makes it a go-to source for anyone on the "management" career path.

Regardless of what motivation first brings you into management, it can feel as if you've entered a troubled profession. Skilled practitioners are scarce, and only the exceptional company is willing to invest in growing its managers.

Succession Planning is thinking through how the organization would function without you, documenting those gaps, and starting to fill them in. It's awkward enough to talk about that it doesn't get much discussion, but it's a foundational skill for building an enduring organization.

See you next week in . Check out all the previous editions here.