Middle Manager Dilemma #5 – Professional Development | Middle Management Blog – Customized Employee Training for St. Paul and Minneapolis Businesses

Back to School – Investing in Your Own Growth and Your Team’s Too

By Beth Schaefer

Middle Managers seldom have spare time, so how does taking professional development time and spending less time on operations equal more success?

In fall, my thoughts return to back-to-school. Sure, I work at a university so that makes sense, but I also have family members returning to school; my neighborhood is gearing up for school; and I am shopping back-to-school sales since everything is considered a back-to-school supply and is offered at a great price.

That makes fall a good time to ponder your own growth and development. As Middle Managers, we tend to focus on making sure that those around us have what they need to be successful, but we do not always take the time to think about what we need to be better at our work. Experience and doing are wonderful teachers, but at some point, getting information from outside your silo can help you see new and better ways to approach your work.

One of my favorite soccer coaches always said that practice makes permanent, not perfect. If you have been doing something the same way a long time, you may be on autopilot and not seeing that you could be better. For many of us in middle management, those neglected skills tend to be coaching and leading. Many of us were promoted for our technical expertise and did not spend much time learning how to motivate and engage people in their work.

Of course, I would love to see you take some professional development workshops from IPD, but here are some additional ideas to consider:

Set a quarterly learning goal. Finish Q 4 strong by setting a goal to learn more about 1 leadership strategy or technical skill.
Find a peer mentor. Look for another leader who is willing to meet and discuss middle manager dilemmas and solutions. Perhaps, review some of the articles in this series as a springboard to discussion.
Create learning bursts for your team. By preparing a tip or strategy to help your team and presenting it at team meetings, you will also learn that tip or strategy better. One of our recorded webinars could be a starting point.

If you are like me, and still feeling guilty about focusing on your own growth instead of your work, here are some gains your team will get from your professional development:

You model curiosity. One of the demands of the workplace is that we are critical thinkers. Taking time to learn new things demonstrates that curiosity is a desirable quality and the first step to being a critical-thinking problem-solver.
You show the importance of learning. Celebrate skill wins in your team meetings. Most organizations have options for professional development: money available for training and certificates, free internal training options, or tuition reimbursement. By using these options and talking about what you are learning in team meetings, you will help your team be aware of steps they can take for their own professional growth.
You build a stronger team. While I am not a fan of trust falls or obstacle courses to build teams, I do think spending time learning together builds a stronger team. The team not only learns new skills, but taking people out of their everyday workspace, production goals, and to-do lists, creates opportunity to learn more about each other in a relaxed and fun environment. Conversations create empathy. Empathy leads to more team cooperation and collaboration when returning to the demands of the job.

Years back, there was a local radio ad that talked about developing workers. The ad addressed the question, What if I use resources to develop my team members, and they leave? Instead, the ad flipped the question and asked, What if I do not develop my team members, and they stay?

In the book Strengths Based Leadership, the author provides research that suggests that strong leaders do not approach leadership the exact same way; however, one thing they do have in common is they encourage the next generation of leaders by providing the space and grace for their team members to grow professionally and personally.

Learning isn’t a luxury; it’s a leadership necessity. Middle Managers who invest in their own professional development build stronger teams and more resilient careers.