Understand Your Management Style

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Understand (or Change) Your Management Style to Improve Your Career

Why Understanding Your Management Style Is Critical

Breaking News! “Perception is the new reality.” Well, OK, maybe you’ve heard this before. This contemporary – quickly moving to cliché level – rule of thumb definitely applies to managers and their perceived “style.”

Understand that your management style is a combination of  behavior  and  results. In most – but not all – cases, your behavior strongly influences your results, for better or worse. The critical key, however, is to understand the components of your management style to allow you to keep those features that work well and adjust those that may need improvement. This analysis is impossible without your  understanding  of your  style components.

Typically, a management style will be a combination of your personality, experience, education, industry, motivation, corporate culture, ambition, and analytical skills. Obviously, this may be a complex and elusive mixture to identify. Yet, you should make your best effort to do so to improve your style and, therefore, your career.

By understanding your style components, you can tweak those features that could be more effective and improve your management results. The complexity of the factors involved can prove challenging as you try to objectively define your management style. The following questions should help you identify the components. Your honesty and objectivity will help you reach your goal of understanding.

How to Understand Your Management Style

Here are some thoughtful questions to ask yourself  that help identify your management style. There are no right or wrong answers. The important factor is that you answer them  honestly. When you’re done, you should have a better understanding of your management style and how you have developed it. If this were a test, which it is not, answering “yes” to all of these questions should earn you an “A” grade. However, the goal of this exercise is to identify and understand your current management style. “No” answers may be appropriate sometimes or, when inappropriate, help you improve your style, which will usually translate to a more lucrative career.

  • Do you typically successfully manage the complexity of business and evaluate your available options?  As you motor up the corporate ladder, managing complexity, uncertainty, and identifying options becomes ever more important.
  • Do you always prioritize and analyze your options to attempt to make the most effective decisions?  An effective management style typically includes the "prioritize and analyze" process before making decisions.
  • Are your typical actions focused on the critical goals of your company, even if they temporarily conflict with your own professional objectives?  This is an important component of a good management style. How you handle and implement procedures that apparently conflict with your personal goals can sometimes strongly influence your current, and possibly, future career.
  • Do you understand those duties that can be safely delegated and those that often demand your personal attention and resolution?  A management style is often defined by your success at delegation and personal involvement in completing necessary tasks.
  • Do you normally try to identify the underlying causes of issues to help you make better decisions and problem resolutions?  A sometimes overlooked component, identifying root causes of conflicts, problems, or other issues can greatly improve management style results.
  • Do you try to avoid over-simplifying complex issues by disregarding critical components?  The temptation to simplify and reduce complexity is strong. If you can do it without discarding critical factors, continue. However, attempts at simplification that don’t include addressing important factors that cause the complexity can be dangerous.
  • Do you avoid a paralysis of analysis condition to help you make timely decisions?  Requirements for business decisions seldom offer managers sufficient time to thoroughly analyze all probabilities. Uncertainty usually rules. Over-analysis and inaction is a decision – usually the wrong one. Get as much data as possible in a reasonable time, and then act.
  • Do you always explain your decisions and actions to help your staff understand the reasons why certain procedures are required?  Expecting “blind obedience” from your staff is a style, but not a preferred, or particularly effective plan. Most employees appreciate an explanation, and they typically react and perform much better when they understand.


Your current management style may work in some companies and be less successful in others. Understanding the features of your style will display how your components fit together. Like a great sports team that may not have the best players, but can blend their talent into an efficient machine, your management style may be classic, cutting edge, revolutionary, or a combination of styles.

Once you understand your style, you can modify those components that may need improvement, and infuse these changes with those features that work very well. As you gain experience, knowledge, and professional maturity, adopting and perfecting a winning management style will improve your career.