1. First and foremost – don’t be a jerk.
Treat Everyone, from cleaning staff through to executives, with utmost respect. Too many people get a position of “authority” and suddenly look down on other staff who are “lower” in the hierarchy. Not only is this wrong on a human level, it is also a serious strategic error. You have no idea what there connections may be, what influence they may have, or where they may end up being in the next year.
It also means that you should not sabotage “rivals”, step on people’s heads to advance, steal credit (or even worry about who gets credit at all), or stab people in the back. Unless you are a pirate, none of these tactics are helpful to a career or a healthy workplace.
2. Be present
You expect your employees to show up for work and put their time and energy in – so should you. Managers that demand 100% from their employees, but then turn around and take extended lunches or go “networking” on the golf course are not only insulting, they are grossly underproductive to their own organization.
Employees are not stupid. When they see this type of inconsistency, they become disengaged. Suddenly, their own contributions to the organization mandate begins to lose its meaning as well as their sense of being appreciated.
Being present is also more than just being in the office. It means being there for your employees. My office door is never closed except for when an employee needs to have a private discussion. A manager’s primary responsibility is to guide and support their staff; thus, the manager must be available to them.
3. Lead by Inspiration, not fear
Antiquated notions of an aggressive leader striking fear and awe into his/her employees are just that… antiquated. They never achieved anything more than obedience and compliance. Staff under that type of leadership did their hours and the minimum required to comply with their duties. Such workplaces never achieve greatness, nor any true productivity.
A good manager leads, instead, by inspiration. To do this a manager needs to include staff in planning, sincerely consider staff ideas and opinions, and help staff see how their contributions connect to the greater picture of the organization’s mandate and directions. They need to see how they are meaningful to the organization.
Might there be performance issues at some point? perhaps, but then that is what performance management systems are for. However, in my experience, engaged employees tend to put in extra time rather than sluff off.
4. Be Open
Managers often think that they are doing staff a favour by holding back certain information (for example, there may be contemplation by senior management about reorganizing a specific team of staff). This could not be further from the truth. Staff ALWAYS find out about considerations or plans – but without you discussing it with them, they are left with wild speculation and fear.
A good manager understands that he/she has a TEAM he/she is managing, not children to coddle. When they know that you communicate with them and that you are there to support them in whatever way possible, you drive up engagement and the true sense of a team.
5. Manage, don’t micromanage!
Far too many managers think they are geniuses. Let’s face the facts here, if you are a manager, you are NOT a genius. You are no smarter than the people you are managing – you just have a different set of skills.
It is the mistaken belief by a poor manager, that they are smarter than their staff. This belief causes many to interfere with the work that should be assigned to their staff. Even worse are those who may have been the best widget maker previously. They have a tendency to interfere all the time – believing that everyone should operate exactly how they did and achieve exactly the same level of results they did.
All of these notions are wrong. First, it is no longer the role of a manager to do all the work. They are supposed to be guiding their staff, supporting them and taking on the tasks of planning. If they are busy doing their staff’s work, they have no time for the actual work they are hired for.
Furthermore, many of these managers have no trust in their employees and so they either criticize unceasingly their staff’s work or do it themselves. To be a good manager, you need to trust your employees and their skills. Give them the tasks to do, let them find their own most productive way of doing it and support them training or whatever else they may need help them gain more and better skill sets.
One caveat to all of this is that you need to get to know your employees and their characters. Some will thrive better under slightly more supervision while others may thrive better under minimal supervision. You need to understand these character differences in order to provide the best management possible for staff to succeed.
Regardless of how much or how little supervision an employee will thrive under, manager’s should not be taking over their work. Nor should managers pretend to know everything their staff knows. Seek out their opinions on issues, involve them in planning or decision making – let them know that you value their expertise. You may not always opt for their recommended decision, but at least you are showing them that you value them enough to seriously consider it.
Nnedike — good article.
One thing I would add to the importance of a manager’s credibility is his/her skill-set and knowledge of the work being managed. In the military we summarized it by preaching the following principle: be technically and tactically proficient.
It’s hard for me to respect a manager who doesn’t have a solid grasp of the work I’m doing. I’ve seen managers skate by without taking interest in learning the ins and outs of the work he or she was managing — the subject matter experts could have pulled the wool over their eyes without much effort.
This is typically more of a problem in firms in which there is a management development program, wherein external human capital is brought in to be shaped by the company. To the contrary, I’d argue this is rarely the case in firms that promote from within its own ranks because expertise is rewarded with management opportunities.
In addition to juggling the hurdles of leading men and women, great managers master the skills and work of their employees.
This is great article Nnedike. #2- be present hits home for me. My manager is brilliant & successful but a terrible manager.
The number 1 thing we all complain about is how she isn’t present- but in a different way than what you mentioned. She is always “multitasking” during conversations in her office- i.e. reading email while “listening.” Usually this results in having to re-meet on topics discussed because she didn’t understand the first time or missed an important piece of the conversation which changes the outcome.
So I have taken away that when I manage people I need to be sure to listen and give them 100% of my attention.
With my current boss, our team has started to utilize have meetings around a table (not at her desk) to ensure she doesn’t have the possibility of being distracted. This allows us all to focus & have efficient meetings with strong resolutions.