When I facilitate management training events, I often notice that participants fall into the trap of thinking that new automatically means better.

I seem to be the kind of person who tends to buy products and goes for headlines that shout “new and improved”, but at a seminar it can be quite annoying when I mention an idea to the audience and some delegates go “Yeah, yeah, we already know that. Tell us something new!”

Of course I love using the newest and coolest tools and techniques. We all want to be on the cutting-edge of training development and it is great to be able to introduce people to new and different ways of thinking and then hopefully acting.

But!

I believe we need to concentrate on the basics before taking on board more sophisticated approaches.

Here are my top 5 recommendations for skills that you need to have mastered before you go on any advanced management training programme.

1. Listening

People hate listening exercises, they know they will not enjoy them and they figure that they probably won’t be very good at them. Most of the time, they are right.

Listening is such a basic skill that we tend to take it for granted, but if you ask around, one of the greatest complaints that employees have about their managers is that they don’t listen to them.

2. Self- Regulation

Bad things happen. Get used to it. People screw up. Get used to it.

We need to be able to face adversity and disappointment and not let our emotions take control of us when things don’t go according to our wishes. If you manage to keep calm and in control no matter the circumstances, you and the people you work with will benefit enormously.

3. Looking at things differently

We don’t see reality, we see a certain aspect of it, distorted through our own perceptual filters. So do others. What does this mean? Just that we will never be able to understand why others see things differently or don’t understand what we mean or don’t do what we expect of them. If we accept that and do our best to appreciate differences, we will be much better equipped to deal with the uncertainty we have to face every day. And if you make it a habit to look at things from a solution-focused perspective, you will enhance your own and other people’s lives.

4. Knowing what makes yourself and others tick

Just because you like chocolate does not mean that those you work with also like chocolate. People are different and they need to be treated differently. Forget political correctness, forget the notion of treating everyone the same. Find out what makes people tick, what they NEED to hear, how they NEED to be treated and give it to them.

5. Do the things you don’t want to do

What is that cluttering up your desk? Something that needs to be done? Something that needs to be done by you? Something that you really don’t want to do?

Do it! No way out of it. Force yourself to deal with those things that need to be done, even though you don’t want to do them.

Focus on developing those 5 skills and it will make your life easier.

Author Bio: Dirk Bansch is Director of Learning & Development of Summit Consulting & Training Ltd in the UK. He facilitates events in the UK, Europe, and the Arabian Gulf. Management Training Home Page Management Development Training Home Page Emotional Intelligence Training Home Page

Category: Business Management
Keywords: management training, emotional intelligence training, leadership development