*** Is Management a Profession?

I get called to fix people problems and I'm really good at that. Most often the person I'm helping has a supervisor or executive team member who has huge gaps in their own management skills. For example here are some of the deficiencies I observe:

• Personality differences
• Stagnant professional development
• Deficient skills in providing and getting feedback; coaching for improvement; delegating; holding people accountable; listening; etc.
• Engaging in ineffective and unproductive behaviors
• Poor interviewing and new employee selection knowledge and skills
• Holding onto thoughts and attitudes that hurt morale and efficiency of the workplace

The question is, "Is Management a Profession?" The only answer is YES! In many professions, health care for example, practitioners continually learn new treatments, techniques, medicines, and procedures. They continually hone their professional skills and knowledge. They can't neglect growth, development, and professional advancement or, not only will they become outdated; they risk losing their professional license.

If management is a profession, why aren't managers constantly aspiring to improve and become better managers? Why is it that they exhibit the deficiencies listed above? Are they not being held accountable for their professional development? Are they waiting for the company to invest in their training and development?
If you are a professional, you will seek and find the resources you need to overcome every deficiency and area for improvement that you identify. A professional invests in his or her own training and development.

As a rule of thumb, you should be investing two percent of your salary in professional development leading to more complete knowledge and competency development.

Wake up managers. It's time to move out and become the very best manager you can become. The resources are there. You only need to choose, change what you thought and did in the past, and begin traveling toward professional excellence. Do it now!