A Good Manager?

Do you have a good manager? Or are you a good manger? Let’s talk about good managers and why our attitudes and efforts can make our employees feel inspired, happy and involved in their work. (Did you get the “our” bit? :-)

Many years ago at I learned about the magic of empowerment. Good managers empower their employees. A boss’s best trait is to trust his or her employees to do the work. Provide the employees an area of responsibility and consistently defer to him or her for that area. Many things can be accomplished here: it shows that the manager trusts the employee, it forces the employee to take on responsibility and become proactive, and finally it gives the employee control over his or her work. (Of course we need to set schedules and have some control here…but you get my point.)

Good managers should also welcome questions from their employees. Personally, I’d like to hold regular team meetings and provide roadmap details/feedback to my managers, and to everyone in my organization for that matter (be careful, the confidentiality zone needs to be respected here). I embrace questions with open arms, as a matter of fact, I encourage questions. In making the employee feel comfortable to ask questions about the work or a management decision, a manager is thereby empowering that employeeA to figure more things out and possibly try something new. Isn’t that great?

I was once asked by a VP what my management style was. ?_oAn open-door policy?__ was my answer. He looked a bit surprised after hearing my answer. Little did he know looking into your employees eyes when speaking to them, and setting aside time to sit down and explain new projects and procedures is a big factor in employee productivity.

It is also important to be nice, but being nice all the time does not mean a manager is good. A manager who is truthful — and that means someone who is willing to tell you when you’ve messed up — is a good manager. I am willing to back up my employees whenever things go sour. However, if they are in the wrong, I would certainly tell them about it. I would also hold a post-mortem to brainstorm how to avoid future mistakes. Providing support in public and reprimand in private, yields employee loyalty.

A good manager is also a good facilitator, and gives credit when it’s due, something the not-so-good managers don’t do. Don’t also forget that people that work for us are looking at us to help them navigate and advance their careers. It’s not all about money — it is all about making our employees see how to improve and create meaningful careers for themselves.

Finally, a good manager should take an interest in employees’ lives. Let’s not only be a mentor, but also a friend.

So in summary, in order to be a good manager, don’t cross to the dark side!

Tags: Leadership

Category: Business