As the author of Managing with Aloha, I get some great questions from managers and leaders via email. This one came a few days ago:
Dear Rosa,
I just got a job as an intern. I’m pretty excited about it, for this company is growing like crazy, and they are known to give their graduating interns terrific opportunities if they’ve done well within their program. I’m hoping this will segue into my first management job when the term is over.
The manager I report to, clued me in to the fact that learning is highly valued here. In your book, you’re pretty passionate about learning too: What kinds of things do you think I should include in my list of things to learn while in my internship?
I’d appreciate hearing of your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Chris
I sent Chris my two Short 7 Lists for new managers, and I thought I’d share them with you too.
The Business List
- Learn the company’s values, brand promise, vision, and mission.
- Learn what the customer wants, and what all stakeholders expect.
- Learn the business model, and learn the ‘financial literacy’ of the company.
- Learn how the company communicates, by learning the vocabulary of the industry, and the ‘language’ of their relationships.
- Learn to be optimistic and positive, with an attitude of abundance, not scarcity.
- Learn to shelve your ego, and always work on what’s good for the company as a whole.
- Learn that integrity and ethics are just fancy words for telling the truth and doing what is right.
The Managing People List
- Learn that management is very visible, and your behavior shines like the brightest neon light.
- Learn to listen well, and listen way more than you speak. Learn to ask great questions.
- Learn to respect the dignity and intelligence of other people, no matter where they sit on the organizational chart.
- Learn to identify and employ strengths in others in ways that make their weaknesses irrelevant.
- Learn that in working with others, managers must “do with,” not “do for.”
- Learn to catch people doing things right, and give others credit where credit is due.
- Learn that being a great manager is a calling, not a promotion.
Will Chris have more to learn? Sure. Lots more. But I believe that concentrating on these things first, in an internship sure to seem very short, will serve him well. He will learn more than he can now even imagine.
What were your most noteworthy lessons learned when you were a new manager?
Related Articles:
- Joyful, Jubilant Learning: 64 Ways and Counting.
- 5 Things Employees Need to Learn—From You.
- Think “Learning” For a Better Budget.
- Learning to Listen? Learn What to Listen FOR.
Rosa Say is the author of Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business and the Talking Story blog. She is the founder and head coach of Say Leadership Coaching, a company dedicated to bringing nobility to the working arts of management and leadership. For more of her ideas, click to her Thursday columns in the archives; you’ll find her index in the left column of www.ManagingWithAloha.com
Rosa’s Previous Thursday Column was: POP² Management.
