My career is one that is full of challenges but I always managed to emerge successful and I believe this is because I possess many of the core values and skills that make a manager a good manager. I must improve these core competencies if I am to be a successful manager respected by colleagues in the future.
Planning skills are of utmost importance for a manager. This is crucial since a manager who is incompetent and fails because of the lack of planning will not earn the trust and respect of his/her colleagues. I have displayed great managerial skills during my current stint as a Mortgage Consultant and Personal Banker at the Bank of America. I was able to exceed the company’s consumer loans prospective targets by 200 percent particularly because I was brimming with a lot of good ideas and I was willing to try them all out. It also helps that I am very enthusiastic with my job. Before trying them out however, I must analyze if these would have any negative implications on the business. I have to carefully and strategically map out how these plans should work. Having a backup plan is always handy since it could prevent a downfall coming from a plan gone wrong. On a side note, I do not take all the credit as I would not be able to accomplish this without the aid of my colleagues. A good manager must not take all the credit for the success of a project but must always assume great responsibility in case of failure. Instead of saying “I was responsible for the success of this plan”, I can say “We were responsible for the success of this plan.” Credit should be given to my colleagues who have helped me realize a plan.
I have also managed to contribute significant increases in revenues and customer portfolio through an increased quality of customer service. Customer service can easily be bettered with good hardworking employees. These employees may be your average employee but it is up to the manager how he/she could convince an employee to work diligently. I was able to improve customer service not just by doing my job well but also encouraging others to do their job well. A manager must also lead leaders and not just followers. He/she must encourage employees to act like leaders and urge them to be leaders themselves. We can note that some of the best managers motivate others to take the initiative and take responsibility in reaching the objectives.
In the span of my career, I was also able to identify new business opportunities with realtors. This allowed the company to build and expand market presence. Before me and my team became successful in this aspect, we were met with some tough times. But I remained steadfast. As a leader, I must always remain resolute so that my subordinates will not lose hope. Imagine a war and in the middle of an important campaign, a marching company is ambushed and the officer-in-charge panics. Because of the leader panicking, everyone in that company would most likely lose their morale and die. A manager must always see to it that the employee’s morale is always at a high level. A leader must not lose sight of his goals because if he/she does, everyone else will lose sight of their goals.
Additionally, a good manager must display traits of honesty, loyalty and integrity since these traits are important for managers to gain the respect of his/her followers. It is also important to develop the trust of the customers and this can only be achieved with honest and good quality of service.
In my previous employment, I was also appointed as Business Analyst in the Contracts and Procurement of the supply chain division of an American Company in Proctor & Gamble, Pakistan and I have made significant contributions as I have analyzed operations and proposed changes that resulted in a reduction in expenses amounting to $1 million. I have also established good relationships with suppliers and partners for a 10% contract reduction on annual basis, which yielded an annual savings of $ 1.2 million per year. This shows how important planning and communications is for a manager.
I am not a perfect manager but I can attest that I have some of the most important skills that a manager must possess. This would make me a very much qualified candidate for a managerial position in the future.
