Bosses who think they’re the next Jack Welch might want to reassess their talent level.
A new survey of 1,100 front-line managers suggests many are over-estimating their skills, with surprisingly little self-doubt. Seventy-two percent said they never questioned their ability to lead others in their first year as a manager.
Managers were also unlikely to rate themselves as weak in a number of leadership attributes, such as planning, communication and adaptability, according to the study by consulting firm Development Dimensions International Inc.
Front-line managers believe that their biggest strengths are in setting work standards and planning and organizing, according to the survey.
The skills they said they most needed to work on were delegating, coaching and gaining commitment-but no more than 15% of managers pointed to any one of those as a “development area.”