Miss congeniality they are not but then they weren't fast tracked because of their people skills. No it was the ability to manage a budget, hit performance targets and rationalise unpopular decisions. It seems a bit unfair now to complain that they are strident, competitive and unimaginative. I am talking about senior managers on the NHS Top Leaders Program but I could be referring to any group of up and coming mangers in the Public Sector. These were the findings of a detailed assessment of 900 participants in the NHS Top Leaders Program under taken by the Hay Group Consultants for the National Leadership Council. The revealing and rather unflattering findings were obtained by the Heath Service Journal (HSJ) from the Department of Health under a freedom of information request but not without a battle.Three quarters of senior managers on the program were assessed as over confident, lacking insight into their own limitations and despite their above average verbal reasoning skills were poor at providing colleagues /staff with clarity. I think this description is not limited to those who are being fast tracked but highlights the management characteristics which get people promoted and not just in the NHS. The problem is that these skills may get you the job but if you are to succeed in the job they do need to be supplement. To transform the service you need to be able to innovate, to develop partnerships and establish a harmonious working environment. To achieve this you will require insight into your own behavior and how it affects others.Senior managers rarely get this sort of direct feedback. Who is going to tell the chief executive that they are unclear about what they are telling them to do, that the way they response to requests for clarification is seen as abrasive or that any attempt to debate is seen as disloyal. Much easier to help managers gain these insights on their way up when hopefully they will be more receptive. So we should not be too critical of the senior managers on the Top Leaders Program for being over confident, lacking insight and thinking they are better communicators than they are. They are after all a product of their environment. We should however encourage the type of individual detailed assessment that confronts managers with their skills gaps and a leadership development programs that address these deficiencies. Blair McPherson author of Equipping managers for an uncertain future published by www.russellhouse.co.uk
