Many hats of managing…

Which hats are you expected to wear?

Motivator
Paternal
General Manager
Relationship advisor

To simplify the number of roles you may have to take as a Manager, think about just 3 hats you have to wear at any given time.

You will either be:-

Counsellor
Coach
Mentor

Counselling is a specialist area so be careful that your employees are not forcing you to wear this hat when you don’t feel comfortable. Normally something has already happened and more often than not outside the workplace.

Coaching is a good hat and very comfortable. This is the everyday supporter, matching energy levels and enthusiasm. You will have a vested interest in performance and will be able to pass judgement on development. You are very much in the present and looking at every single incremental difference you can make to improve performance.

The final hat being a mentor, might not be everyday but it is a great hat and deserves big language. This is where people want to go and very future orientated language. You might not necessarily have a vested interest in the performance, which gives you even more scope to pass judgement on the development. The best mentors are outside of the organisations so that they do not have any cultural barriers as to why you cannot progress.

Each hat needs a different set of skills and awareness as to when and where to apply them. See the table below:-

	What …?	How…? – Skills	When/Where…?
Counselling	Relationships	Listening/support	Face to face
Coaching	New project	Energetic/support	1:1 meetings
Mentoring	Career move	Inspiring language	Outside office