People managers sometimes face a dilemma of how to make a reportee exhibit his full potential. I would put across the below factors and one of them i think is the "space" or freedom provided for him/her to grow. So here goes my thoughts ....
Formula : Talent + Hardwork + Space = Sucess
As its famous quoted Success is indeed 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. All the managers recognise talent and hardwork. This is common and is usually spotted and appreciated by all managers. Annual reviews, checkpoints and meetings more often address these two points. But I feel that a managers role shouldnt be restricted to these alone. What goes in that 1% inspiration surely contributes to a bigger chunk of the 99% hardwork. So , i think its pretty commonsense to see what might be an individuals perspection of his source for inspiration.
This bring us quite nicely to the third factor - Space. Space might be just one of those contributors to the inspiration for some people. So, an exceptional manager would look beyond the first two factors and come to the third "Space". Space can be generally viewed as a "responsibility" or a "growth area" which would be suitable to the reportee and which would make him realise some more of his potentials. A manager would need to assess himself first . He would pose the below two questions to himself
1) How do i make the reportee realise his full potential?
2) Am I helping the reportee by giving him space and freedom to grow?.
3) How could i contribute to see that there are no mind-blocks with the reportee
4) Finally, have i fully understood what "space" to provide and have i communicated that to him ?
It is indeed true that excellent mangement is nothing but facilating the team to work at their best possible potential.
