The Pathway to Incompetence – an unfortunate tale of Management

The Pathway to Incompetence – an unfortunate tale of Management

Management training and skill development is a priority for newly appointed Managers The right stuff If I were to describe myself in three words, I would say “caring, intelligent, fair”, qualities I believe, that are important to be a successful Manager. As a proficient, possibly even outstanding technician in my chosen vocation, I was identified as a candidate for promotion and eventually my opportunity arrived. A car and accompanying car park privileges, a nice pay rise and a set of shiny keys established in me a mandate of the Manager – to get things done “the right way”. Management is more than commitment to the cause Over a period of six years, I did, with those three traits (care, intelligence and fairness) commit myself fully to the tasks and people I oversaw. I can, hand on heart, say that I had the best interests of my staff at the forefront of (most) decisions and actions I was responsible for. No doubt. I can just as easily declare my time in the role as a rollercoaster of uncertainty and unfortunately, one of limited success. I made some horrible mistakes; mistakes I still ponder (now that I know and understand the reasons they were so bad). For sure I had the deck stacked against me when I naively signed my new contract; a culture of underperformance in a highly competitive, possibly even inviable contract. Yet still I now understand clearly that I did myself, my staff and my organisation no favours and for that I suffered great personal anguish, cost several people their jobs and left a major hole in budgets over...