CMI recently questioned over 2,000 UK managers to find out which aspects of management they thought they were best at.
Almost half said they excelled at managing people, 21% were target-busters, 19% believed they were strongest at managing themselves and just 14% felt they were born to lead.
The CMI then put those perceptions to the test by inviting UK workers to use a specially-developed self-diagnostic tool to work out where their strengths and weaknesses lie.
Just under 70% of UK managers categorise themselves as ‘accidental' managers
The results strongly contradict managers' perceptions, revealing that, in practice, UK managers are not giving themselves enough credit and are the best at getting results.
Just 14% of over 6,000 employees who used the tool excelled at people management and a paltry 8% proved to be best at managing themselves.
Just under 70% of UK managers categorise themselves as ‘accidental' managers meaning they had no desire to become a manager when they embarked on their careers.
Most admit to having had no management training before taking up a senior post and just one in five managers hold any type of formal management qualification.
"We're desperately short of good leaders in this country - just look at how many FTSE 100 companies have sourced CEOs from abroad and how many Premier League clubs have foreign managers," said Ruth Spellman, chief executive of CMI.
"We're crying out for much-needed home-grown leadership talent and it's frustrating that employers are failing to capitalise on the dormant leadership skills that their employees don't yet realise they have."
