Polarity Management

A recent article in the San Jose Mercury news talked about the inherent polarities of being a manager and how the Polarity Management concept can be used to deal with the complexity of working in an organization.

Polarity Management concept basically about how to deal with two conflicting points of view and both of them true.

One of the examples of polarities that this article gave was:
"You get a new boss, who is very focused on productivity. He's hard-nosed and impatient. Yet you've built your success on being a manager known for your ability to mentor employees and keep harmony on our team. The new boss doesn't care about that stuff."

Polarities certainly provides many challenges to a manager. Season and smart managers are more equipped to deal the challenges than new managers. This article outlined several helpful techniques to handle challenges:

1. Accept that you are part of the management
• Agree to represent the leadership of the company in meeting business goals
• Don't cut off relationships or refuse to hear the point of view of your employees
2. Be clear about the personal benefits of being a manager
• Remind yourself of the enjoyable times when feeling stressful in dealing with polarties
3. Know your boundaries
• It's OK to acknowledge there have been disagreements about a decision and move on

I certianly enjoyed learning about the Polarity Managment concept from this article and now I can recognize the concept the next time it occurs in my workplace. Also now I know what techniques can be used to deal with the challenges that a polarity situation brings.