How do you know a good manager?
Managing people nowadays, when “the only constant is change,” is not only more difficult, but also more responsible and requires a manager to have highly developed soft skills. Today, managers play a key role in the organization, they are responsible for bringing profits to the company, internal and external communication, as well as the development of people in their teams. So, how do you know a good manager? I answer this question in this article.
1. Has a vision for his team
A manager must have a clear direction for his or her area that is consistent with the organization’s overarching goal and fits with its Mission and Vision. A direction that will not only bring profits to the company, but also develop people’s careers.
2. Manages through values
Managing through values is the only way of management that is so moral and people-oriented. Nothing motivates us more than just being able to realize personal values, which can be, for example, career, development, passion or creativity. When we can realize things that are important to ourselves at work we are more willing to engage in work, we are more effective and we avoid the phenomenon of “professional burnout”, because values are our driving force for action, providing long-term motivation. Hence it is so important for a Manager to know the personal values of his employees, to be able to combine them with the values of the organization and to organize the work of the team in such a way that people can realize them.
3. Manages through the goal of good influence
A manager’s job is largely to work on strategic and operational goals, for the entire team and each individual employee. As a boss, he has to ensure that his employees know what they are supposed to do and most important: WHY they are doing it, i.e. what larger purpose (beyond personal identity) their actions serve. He can connect people’s personal goals with those of the organization and communicate them appropriately within the team. Has each day, month, quarter, year planned – works on short-term, medium-term and long-term plans, so that few things can surprise him on the way to his goal.
4. Has an attitude of confidence in action
A high quality manager has a clear professional identity: he knows who he is, he knows what he is doing and where he is leading his team. He takes responsibility for his own actions and for the mistakes he makes, without looking around for someone to blame. He also has a well-defined value system, which is a set of principles that guide him in his daily work. His employees know what to expect from him – what things he requires and what things he does not tolerate in the team. The manager is a person who realizes the values of the organization and works in a moral way, knows well the industry in which he works, keeps track of changes in the market and the actions of the competition.With his behavior and attitude he sets an example for others, thereby providing a role model for the team to follow. Always and everywhere speaks well of the company and its employees.
5. Develops employees
One of the basic tasks of a manager is to develop the employees in his team, and therefore to be ready to delegate difficult tasks to them, despite the temptation to do it “faster” yourself. People learn the fastest through experience when they come up with the answer, the solution themselves, and precisely when they do difficult things. Instead of giving ready-made solutions, he encourages his employees to find them on their own. He challenges employees, stimulates them to think, to question their own assumptions and routines. He shows them that they can achieve more than they previously thought. The manager should also be open to the innovation and creativity of his employees, ready to put these ideas into practice and delegate some responsibility to his employees.
6. Knows the mechanisms of people in a team
Today, team management is all about highly developed soft skills, communication skills, the ability to recognize the mechanisms that drive people’s behavior and the way they motivate themselves to act, and a great deal of human knowledge. A good manager knows very well the people in his team, their personal value, as well as their mechanisms of action. He knows how they react to different messages and can adapt his language to each recipient. He knows the motivational mechanisms of his employees – whether an employee is motivated by “escaping punishment” or “moving toward reward,” and here, too, he is proficient in using communication appropriate to the mechanism.
7. Never stop developing
A manager must constantly improve his competence, learn new things, keep up to date with new knowledge in the market and keep up to date with news in his industry. If his team works with clients, he needs to teach employees modern forms of sales and customer service, so that his team works with the most up-to-date tools. Take special care to develop his soft skills, including communication skills, as they largely determine the quality of his work with his team.
Author Anna Modrzewska
