Are You In Management

[Mike80]

I was a team lead for another project but that wasn't really management per se.....

it'll come at some point probably. I'm only a step down or so from being a supervisor for the new project I'm on now. If I stick around for another 4-5 years I may very well be it. Not that I want to seem over-anxious, but it is one of my career goals,,,,

 

[MaxBuck]

So what BP'ers are in Management, Director, or high Corporate roles where you are responsible for Financials, Clients, Projects and Staff? What do you feel your greatest strengths are? Do you feel you are succesful? What one bit of advice would you share with those in similar roles?

Spent the last 15 years (working for others) in a VP role, with financial, client development, project and staff direction responsibilities. In retrospect, I hated it. You have to want to be a manager in order to be truly effective at it. Now I have my own business and love doing it.

The one thing I am proud of relative to my tenure in management is that I always thought of myself as being a servant to my subordinates. In other words, my most important job was to find ways to help them to be as effective as possible. I think that's the single most important attribute an effective leader must have.

On the other hand, my general "fuck-you" attitude toward my bosses probably didn't much help either me or my subordinates. (That's overstating the case a bit, but if it were a matter of supporting my staff and clients or supporting my bosses, the bosses drew the short straw every time.) A good manager needs to have a good sense of which fights are worth fighting and which are not; I didn't have that.