The first manager I interviewed is a male. Since 2,5 years he is the head of the economic department at the municipality of Maastricht. His team consists of 16 people who deal with different issues relating to the economy in Maastricht. There is for example an event manager, several account managers who try to attract new companies to Maastricht and two managers who are concerned with the Euregio.
According to this manager there are two sides of management. On the one hand there is management in its pure form, which is to make sure other people do their job. This involves paying attention to those people, and guiding them. On the other hand a manger needs to deal with the content of the job. Both are very important, and it is difficult to find the right balance. When he first started his job the team was completely new, and therefore it was necessary to focus a lot on the content. Now he thinks he spends around 40 percent of his time on content, and 60 percent on the people in his team.
It soon becomes clear that this manager is a real people manager. For example, when I ask him about the competencies a manager needs he replies that empathy and being able to listen to people are very important. Furthermore a manager should stand up for himself and his team, and be stern when it comes to business, but soft when it comes to his people.
These competencies are something you should have. Education can help however. This manager first studied social geography, which is not really relevant in his current position, but his later management education did help to shape him as a manager. A management trajectory at the municipality has also been useful, because it provided the opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas with other managers. Education therefore can help a manager to gain insights in the job, but it is not a prerequisite.
When I ask him about the difference between a manager and a leader he states that a manager focuses more on the short term and has more attention for employees. He is the one that minds the shop. The leader really ‘leads the troops’ and has less attention for the individual. Ideally someone should be both a manager and a leader. He feels that at this point in time he acts more as a manager.
A management style can change over time depending on the situation. For example, with the current state of the economy it is sometimes necessary to lay off people. This changes team dynamics and asks for a different way of managing. Even though the management job can change, he does not think it will ever disappear. It can be that organizations have fewer layers, but managers will always be needed.
Several things influence how he behaves as a manager. First, it depends on how comfortable he is in his own skin. Second, good or bad examples from other people help him to reflect on himself. Also expectations from his surroundings are important, especially when you work in politics as this manager does. Lastly he mentions that the size of the team is of importance.
I also ask him about the glass ceiling. He wonders whether it has to do with being a women per se. At the municipality he sees quite a lot of female managers. He does think that because women more often choose to take care of their children this could be a barrier for companies to let them advance. This is also an issue that is influenced by the surroundings. He thinks that in his generation it is already more accepted when women have a job, but it takes some time before we really see changes in organizations.
The last issue I discuss is ethics. He indicates that integrity is very important in his team. His people deal with lobby, acquisition and account management, and this makes a team vulnerable. It is important to discuss with team members what is possible and what is not, because everybody can have different ideas on this. How important ethics and integrity is became clear when an official that was part of the team turned out to be involved in the affair with a Bulgarian holiday bungalow that forced the major of Maastricht, Gerd Leers, to resign.
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Source:
http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/faculty_and_staff.html (photo)
