Being ‘servant leaders’ as ‘chartered managers’

Seated (from left): Dr. Thesara Jayawardane, Chaminda de Silva, Indra Kaushalya Rajapaksha, President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri, Rohitha Amarapala, Kamaya Perera, and Rishantha Mendis 

Standing (from left): Dr. Jagath Peiris, Nirmalan Nagendra, Ninesh D. Amirthiah, Ravi Jayawardena, Greame La Brooy, Anil Koswatte, Dr. Lewie Diasz, and Chaya Ranaweera 

It is indeed refreshing to look back the time since June 2022 as the Sri Lankan Branch of the Chartered Institute of Management (CMI), UK completing another successful year in action, amidst an ongoing socio-economic crisis. I am so glad to be in the helm with a dynamic and committed team towards delivering value. Today’s column is a reflection in retrospect of the revered states of a “chartered manager” as a “servant leader”.

Overview 

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) UK, as a professional institution for management was founded as the British Institute of Management (BIM) in 1947. The world was recovering from the devastation of World War II. Its purpose ever since has been to improve productivity and the prospects of economic success by upskilling managers and leaders. In the 75 years that followed, CMI has met this aim in a number of ways and has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. It was merged with the Institution of Industrial Managers (IIM) in 1992 to form the Institute of Management (IM), and achieved a Royal charter, with reshaping with the present name in 2002.  

The CMI works with business and education to inspire people to become skilled, confident, and successful managers and leaders. As its slogan aptly says, it aims at “turning accidental managers into conscious leaders”. To fulfil this lofty am, it has spread its wings as a well-networked body. Within the United Kingdom, the CMI has branches in Scotland, North East, Yorkshire and Humberside, West Midlands and North West, East Midlands and Eastern Wales, London, South East, South West and Northern Ireland. Internationally, it has its Regional Boards in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. I am indeed delighted to lead the “small and beautiful” Sri Lankan regional board amidst multiple challenges. 

Vibrancy of CMI

With a wealth of practical qualifications, events, and networking opportunities on offer, CMI helps people boost their career prospects and connect them with other ambitious professionals across all industries and sectors. In fact, it has more than 100,000 people training to be better managers right now. Backed by a unique Royal Charter, it claims to be authentic organisation that can award Chartered Manager status – the ultimate management accolade.

The CMI’s thought leadership, research and online resources provide practical insight for both today’s leaders and the next generation. This insight also means that it can confidently represent 180,000 plus membership community around the globe when speaking to policy makers. This is all in aid of one simple goal: to increase the number and standard of professionally qualified managers.

At the heart of everything we do at CMI is our mission, vision, and values. As a chartered body, these ensure its fulfilment of the aims set out in our Royal Charter. But equally important, they focus us on the activities which will deliver real impact. Accordingly, its simple and straightforward Vision goes as “to create Better led and managed organisations”. The mission of the CMI goes as “to increase the number and standard of professionally qualified managers”.

CMI aims to be a dynamic social enterprise that’s both well-managed and true to its values. CMI’s values mean that even if you’ve never worked with it before, you’ll know what to expect. They are represented by four Ps. 

Professional: To be authoritative and credible we have to be judged by the highest standards. In all things we say and do we are accountable and ethical, always adhering to our code of conduct and practice.

Progressive: We are committed to inclusivity, and we look forward with an unshakeable belief that everyone can do better. Sometimes this means challenging the status quo and being controversial but always with the desire to create a better future.

Passionate: Our energy, enthusiasm, and belief in making a positive difference to the skills of managers and leaders means we are always giving our best to deliver value to our stakeholders.

Practical: Our knowledge and expertise make us smart and quick to respond in a way that is grounded in the real world. This enables us to simplify complex issues to promote understanding and best practice.

Strategic Objectives of the CMI have been clearly stated. They are as follows:

• Grow partnerships to increase the number of Chartered and qualified managers and leaders
• Create the right integration of products, propositions, and channels for our customers
• Build the CMI brand as thought leaders in management practice
• Be the professional home for management and leadership
• Develop global mindset and presence

“Now is the time for managers to focus their attention on what skills are needed as we emerge from the pandemic. Management will have to adapt to a new way of working with their teams to create stronger organisations”. That’s how Lord Mark Price, the Honorary President of the CMI stated as a summary of his message contained in the most recent annual report of 2022. As he further states, “ in our work, we looked at: the state of modern management; the role of managers and leaders in powering our economy forward; the continuing under-representation within management and leadership of women, people from ethnically diverse backgrounds, people with disabilities and people from socially deprived backgrounds.”

Ann Francke, the CEO of CMI opines as follows: “The world has changed but we are concerned that many organisations haven’t yet adapted to this reality. We need a step-change in management and leadership that has inclusivity at its heart in order to better utilise talent and boost productivity.” “As the world starts to rebuild after the Coronavirus pandemic, organisations need professionally qualified managers more than ever. In this context, it is so encouraging to see record numbers of learners registering on CMI accredited programmes, as well as record numbers of learner and apprenticeship completions, and Chartered Managers.”

Being a Chartered Manager

Chartered Manager is all about professional recognition and is the highest status that can be achieved in the management and leadership profession, as per the CMI guidelines. Chartered status recognises managers with exceptional management and leadership skills and commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), demonstrating to employers and peers the value of a professional approach that delivers measurable impact. Backed by the prestigious Royal Charter, CMI is the only professional body able to award Chartered Manager status worldwide. 

There are multiple benefits of a Charter status can bring in. First and foremost, it recognises the practice of management as a profession. It identifies the benefits that good management has both on the individual as a career, and for society as a whole by improving our national institutions. Second, it recognises CMI as the standard-bearer for that profession. CMI charter means that we are recognised as the leading authority on management practice. It formalises members’ commitment to uphold professional standards and keep their skills and competencies up to date. This is an undertaking contained in the CMI Code of Conduct and Practice and the IC Code of Professional Conduct and Practice. Most tangibly, the Royal Charter allows CMI to award Chartered Manager status, the highest accolade for professional managers in the UK. Chartered Managers are committed to upholding our standards and have demonstrated their experience and impact as managers and leaders.

CMI Sri Lanka in focus 

The CMI (UK) Sri Lanka Branch (CMI Sri Lanka) was established in 1996. It is the only authentic chartered management body in Sri Lanka that is committed to contributing to the management fraternity as a thought leader in management practices guiding and helping them to realise their important career goals in management by up-skilling them and promoting CMI – UK management certifications. CMI Sri Lanka has enlisted top corporate leaders in Sri Lanka among its membership and is highly regarded as a prestigious entity. 

We as CMI Sri Lanka had a challenging time during past few years, due to a planetary pandemic and post-pandemic economic chaos.  With the rapid depreciation of Rupee, paying membership fees in Sterling Pounds was a challenging task for many long-standing Sri Lankan members of CMI UK. We had to resort to virtual meetings and limited public events due to the prevailing situation. Among them, an evening talk following by a panel discussion of experts, an evening on a management movie, an MOU with CIPM, Sri Lanka to promote Chartered Management Consultant (ChMC) qualification, collaborating with multiple parties by way of involving in research, webinars and keynote speaking featured remarkably. 

We attempted to serve the deserving community by way of upholding the essence of management. Ironically, management and mismanagement are very much in limelight, local, regional, and global alike. This can be the case for rise or fall of a corporate, community or even a country. We realised that it involves assigning meanings to a structured approach towards achieving results. We attempted to inspire, influence, and initiate, which essentially speak of leadership. In a nutshell, it is moving beyond typical management in becoming servant leaders. 

Way forward 

It reminds me of the famous quote by Edward Everett Hale. “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” We at CMI Sri Lanka is continuing to do so in facilitating the processes of up-skilling, multi-skilling and re-skilling managers enhanced with future-proof competencies. Creating a vibrant network of diverse professionals with management as the common interest with value creating initiatives has always been the focus. 

The CMI Sri Lanka chapter has a long way to go, in being servant leaders as chartered managers. It requires confidence and competence in collectively collaborating towards continuous value creation. 

(The writer, a Senior Professor in Management, and an Independent Non-executive Director, can be reached at [email protected], [email protected] or www.ajanthadharmasiri.info.)