This article is written by Angela Rasheed, Benefits Administration Officer, Ministry of Finance, Ontario Public Service.

When I became a public servant in the Ontario Government three years ago, I knew right away that I aspired to a leader-manager position, but I had little leadership or management experience, no idea what my management style was and few opportunities to develop either.

I started my career relatively late in life after taking time to raise my family, and most of the people in my peer group were well ahead of me in their career paths. My question became, how do I go from an unrecognised and inexperienced clerk to a respected leader-manager?

Now, a short three years later, I have successfully led multiple government initiatives and fundraising campaigns, am a volunteer Associate Project Manager on a $70 million capital building project in my community, and am well on my way to becoming a leader-manager in the Ontario Public Service. How did I do it?

1. Start by being an engaged team member

I started building my leadership skill-set and resumé by volunteering for every initiative and fundraising campaign my organisation offered.

Open communication is key, because it shows that you value and respect your team members, and many times saw the team bouncing ideas off each other that provided solutions to major obstacles and set-backs.

I researched ideas to present at meetings, actively participated in every event and raised my hand for every opportunity. This built rapport with my team members and eventually caught the attention of management.  When it came time to find someone to undertake a new initiative, everyone knew they could count on me to get the job done. I quickly went from being a team member to being asked to lead working groups, change committees and organise fundraising campaigns.

2. Seek out free or cost-effective self-studies on management

I knew I wanted to be a leader-manager, but what type of manager did I want to be, and what skills and experience did successful leaders have?

I began researching management job ads and determining what kind of skills my organisation was looking for. Project Management, Change Management, positive influencing and self-awareness appeared frequently, so I sought out online training courses on these skill-sets and worked on them in my personal time. This wasn’t easy because I have a second full-time job raising three kids and running a large household. But I prioritised it, and it paid off! There are many free or cost-effective online skill-building platforms, such as Apolitical, LinkedIn, Skills Success, Alison.com, and SimpliLearn, to name a few.

3. Take a collaborative approach to leadership

The most important skill-set I learned and applied as a leader is collaboration, active listening and communication. When team members feel that they are part of a solution, and that their ideas and opinions are heard and validated, your project will always be more successful.

Virtual networking is the perfect way to build stronger, more diverse, and engaged teams, and behind every great leader-manager is a great team.

Open communication is key, because it shows that you value and respect your team members, and many times saw the team bouncing ideas off each other that provided solutions to major obstacles and set-backs. Never underestimate the power of a team’s conjoined knowledge and experience!

4. Look for leadership opportunities outside of your organisation

Sometimes leadership opportunities inside your organisation are few and far between, or someone else always gets chosen for the task. This happened to me many times, so I sought out volunteer opportunities in my community as well.

After taking courses in Project Management and Lean Six Sigma, a call went out in my church for volunteers for a large capital build project, and I jumped on the opportunity. I leveraged my work experience, personal skill-set and self-study training to become the lead on several committees, which in turn provided me experience and skill-sets to leverage in my OPS career.

Once you begin applying yourself and leveraging your skills in various arenas, success in all areas becomes easier.

5. Utilise the virtual tools available to you

We live in an exciting, and sometimes overwhelming world of inter-connectivity. The virtual networking tools available to public servants now are incredible, and leveraging them is the way of the future.

Platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Skype, and Zoom allow people from all over the world to come together and share information and ideas in ways we’ve never been able to before. The OPS recently held our Spring Food Drive, and because of the Covid-19 crisis it was done completely virtually.

I was a champion for my ministry, and our goal was to raise $4,040 for local food support agencies. We used Microsoft Teams to have virtual meetings that brought together employees from regional offices all over Ontario. We shared ideas, information, documents, and positive stories of employees helping their local communities to put together a newsletter that, after distribution, helped us dramatically exceed our goal, and inspired people throughout the ministry to continue taking small actions to help others in need. Virtual networking is the perfect way to build stronger, more diverse, and engaged teams, and behind every great leader-manager is a great team!

My final word of advice is don’t be afraid to fail! No one is perfect, and no matter how experienced and knowledgeable you are, you will always make mistakes. The key is to be accountable to yourself and your team, admit when you’ve made a mistake and do your best to fix it, and always be willing to learn and grow! — Angela Rasheed

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(Picture credit: Unsplash)