What is Your Lasting Imprint

Management careers should be fulfilling and fun and I have had the wonderful opportunity, or in fact privilege to manage and influence employees. I see management as one of the most important obligations and responsibility of any leader. I have always tried to manage and lead with more emotion and passion for each individual as an individual and not just an instrument for generating profits.

Social theorists and academics have suggested that the beliefs in people, their intellect, abilities, emotions and ethical values are the core of our social existence.

One of these theorists is an individual by the name of Dr. Clayton J.C. Lafferty who had studied the management competency of humanistic-encouraging or what is now often referred to as emotional intelligence has defined it in the following way: “Humanistic-Encouraging measures an interest in people, a tendency to care about others, and the ability to encourage them to improve.”

Managers with stronger humanistic-encouraging competencies are more able to have these conversations, according to Lafferty, as they accept others for who they are – without question or criticism. I believe that humanistic behaviour encourages personal growth and the development of human existence within the multiple layers of our varied social frameworks. We therefore have a social obligation to become better, more caring managers so that we are able to engage all of our employees individually.

I have come to believe, based on personal observations and experiences that what seems of utmost importance to my role as a manager, was to leave behind legacies for others to continue. Using a nickname from my past I call these Fossils.

Fossils, by my definition, are ideas or impressions left on employees that have proven themselves over time. They have become embedded permanent imprints or disciplines in how I manage people.

I have personally defined the role of a manager in the following way:

“An individual with the accountability and responsibility to create a working environment where employees are able to enrich their thinking, abilities and experiences on a continual basis while maximizing value for their clients.”

It all starts with your thinking or your mindset. The best employees and manages are positive thinkers. They think positively about their desire to achieve results and about their relationships with their clients. They regularly review their activities and goals and they think in an enthusiastic, “can do” mindset; Aligning the creative mind in harmony with their emotional intelligence which influences their focus, motivation and confidence.

I have found significant gratification in supporting an environment where each employee has the opportunity to apply themselves, fully leverage their intellectual curiosity, align positive thinking, enhance ability and enrich his or her value to each client relationship. Management thinking and behaviour had become of great personal importance to me over the years as I assessed my own achievements.

They were collective achievements, largely due to the thinking, ability and motivation of employees who strived to meet performance targets and personal bests but who also act on the basis of mutual benefit. The more I had been able to assist in developing en employee’s thinking, ability and their desire to achieve, the more likely I was able to achieve what I set out to accomplish and the more rewarding it was for me personally. The more humanistic-encouraging the practices the more I have had a positive effect on enhancing the thinking, abilities and motivation of employees. I believed these competencies became my own competitive advantage and brand.

In conclusion, it is important to note that management careers should be fulfilling and fun. If done with heart, emotion and the right mindset your career can be one of the most fulfilling and satisfying aspects of what makes up a large part of your life. It is my hope that for those I have had the opportunity to influence that I have done so with a positive and memorable way. I hope that I am remembered for bringing an aspect of enthusiasm and emotion to a role that is at the heart of organizations; that of a manage.

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