Do you have what it takes to be a manager?

Are you management material? Is this something you’ve been trying to work out? Perhaps you’ve been offered a promotion to a managerial position and you are unsure if you should take it or not. It’s valuable to remember that even if someone else would consider you fit for the role and responsibilities, this doesn’t mean you’re obligated to fill the position. Not everyone is destined to be a manager and that’s okay as long as your decision to decline the position isn’t based on fear. Fear of power and responsibilities shouldn’t prevent you from climbing the corporate ladder.

A list of questions to ask yourself if you’ve been considering working towards a management position or if you’ve been offered a promotion you’re unsure to take.

Questions to ask yourself:

Are you willing or able to work longer hours with additional overtime pay?

Even though the promotion will most likely come with an increase in salary, it will also come with bigger time commitments and extra responsibilities, which will involve arriving earlier and leaving later. 

Are you good at distributing and delegating work to others?

If you are taking on more daily tasks as well as responsibilities without distributing some out, you are just someone with a harder job, not necessarily a managerial one. As a manager, it’s within your role and rights to share burdens and tasks with your employees, which may mean letting go of the tasks you enjoy doing and teaching others how to do them.

Are you willing to take responsibility for others’ mistakes and failures as well as your own?

It will be your responsibility to train employees on how to complete the tasks given to them, and also take responsibility for their mistakes. While everyone is responsible for their own decisions and actions, the responsibility and accountability as a manager to the stakeholders will ultimately be yours.

Can you give constructive criticism?

If one of your employees does make a mistake or delivers poor work outcomes, your initial instinct may be to be angry or annoyed, but this will not benefit you or your team. You need to coach your staff to make a positive change when they approach the task the next time by explaining what was wrong and how they could improve next time.

Could you reprimand an employee for wrongdoing?

You may find out you have an employee who regularly arrives late or spends too much time distracted by social activities. Maybe they misbehave in some form and as a manager, it would be your responsibility to inform them that their behaviour is unacceptable. No one wants to be seen as the ‘bad guy’ but your team will respect you for being stern and fair.

Could you fire an employee?

Whether you need to fire an employee for not doing their job well or if it was an uncontrollable reason, like downsizing, could you do it? You may start thinking about how they would pay for their mortgage or afford the expenses in their life and that’s when it becomes more difficult. You need to ignore these factors and remind yourself that it’s within your power and responsibility to make these decisions and execute them too.

Can you keep your personal feelings about an employee away from managing them?

You may have friends you currently work with who you would then manage if you took the promotion and you would need to learn to compartmentalise the relationship. Within work, you would need to remain their manager and hold off on any special treatment that would be deemed unfair by other members of your team. 

Can you say no to people?

As a manager, you need to turn down employee requests regularly, including telling someone they can’t take a holiday during the busiest time of the year if the company can’t afford it.

Remember that as a manager you have to have the interests of the whole team at the heart of your decisions and sometimes may have to act on behalf of your employees too. A managerial role is a lot of responsibility but will also be very rewarding too. If you are considering going for a management role, then consider these questions in this blog and reflect on them thoroughly.