If you are managing a team, it is important that you possess certain traits. Here is a list of 16 qualities you should have to be an excellent manager.
Managing people is hard, and managing an entire team that reports to you is even harder. As a manager, you're not just responsible for your direct reports but you're also responsible for the success and wellbeing of all the other people on your team. It’s not just about getting work done on time but also keeping your employees engaged - and that's what defines great managers from the pretenders.
Every manager needs to possess certain hard and soft skills to be an effective manager that their team can rely on. A manager needs to strike a balance for every in the team so that resources are not underutilized and on the other hand, burdened and overworked.
The 16 qualities below will help guide you towards striking the balance.
Good managers are hard to find. They are the lifeblood of any business, large or small. Managers need to be able to motivate their team who will in turn motivate the company and its customers. They need to have a vision, be professional and be able to delegate tasks effectively. It's not easy being a good manager, which is why we've compiled a list of twelve qualities every good manager should possess.
The key to being an effective manager is to understand that you have to take responsibility of everyone in the team. The most important aspect of leadership is to set goals, plan projects and oversee a team without overburdening them with work.
While it can be difficult to juggle all of your tasks as a boss and achieve personal goals at the same time, learning how to manage your time well and plan in advance can help you achieve goals easily.
These are some of the fundamental characteristics which will ultimately lead to your success as a manager: being able to delegate and being good at facilitating. What does that mean?
It means that you don’t (and maybe can’t) do everything yourself. Instead, you delegate tasks to others.
Being a facilitator is about ensuring that everyone is taken care of and are moving in the right direction. It’s also about inspiring greatness—not taking all the credit—and fostering trust amongst your team members. A few people have all the skills they need to succeed, but by keeping your team members involved, by encouraging them to aim for both personal and professional development, and by getting out of their way, you can help make them better versions of themselves, and build a successful team in the process.
The most successful leaders, managers and CEOs of organizations understand what their organization is all about - they know how everything operates, what makes its products or services unique, and how it can align with the best strategic plans.
Values and culture are critical components of all organizations. Managers need to understand which goals to prioritize and make sure that they can align with the organization's vision & mission and more importantly accept the companies' values wholeheartedly.
A good manager should be excellent when it comes to communication. They should possess great interpersonal skills and builds a working relationship with every member of his team. These interpersonal skills include the ability to listen, ask good questions, communicate effectively, develop supportive relationships with the team, and establish trust-based relationships.
In addition to these skills, they should be thoughtful and fair in your approach to leadership. Good communication is essential. They should be an effective communicator who can articulate their vision and build buy-in among team members. A good manager must also be an effective communicator and present their point of view in a way that people will understand and are not afraid to ask questions. Additionally, a good manager is always available to listen attentively to the surpluses and problems of their employees and should be ready to take any action that is deemed appropriate.
According to Forbes, great leaders focus on helping others become better. They are advocates for the advancement of others. They want the impact of their legacy to be directly related to the success of others and the organization they serve.
Motivating people is a necessity for any manager. As such inspiring, enabling and leading by example are all essential requirements for a successful manager that provide the support, confidence and understanding so that their team feels energized to achieve their goals and actualize their potential through working with them. A well-motivated team will do their job with a lot more efficiency, knowing that the manager will support and help them.
A good coach is always gracious and willing to help out, so be patient and maintain a pleasant attitude while helping your team learn. Be comfortable keeping the team focused on their goals even when bored with the drudgery of doing each part.
Intent matters more than results. A great coach provides help tailored for each person’s individual needs too. And finally, it’s important to show appreciation for your team for all that they’re doing for you.
Conflict is inevitable, whether in the workplace or among your team members. You can’t always prevent arguments from occurring, but you can resolve them in a way that helps maintain harmony.
When it comes to resolving conflicts, some people are very good at it, others are not so much. A good manager will always make sure that they resolve the conflicts or issues their team faces before they escalate and do more damage.
Good leaders are good decision makers. They use their knowledge and experience to take the hard decisions. Management by walking around is no substitute for making hard decisions when needed. Managers must also be willing to make the hard decisions keeping their team and company’s best interest in mind.
In short, great managers aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and lead from the front. They never shy away from the tough decisions and are always ready to help the team out when they require it. Management is not a popularity contest: it’s about making tough calls and supporting your people through it.
Good managers ask a lot of questions. Questions reveal something about the other person’s thinking process and knowledge. A good manager can change directions based on the information that is revealed.
Good managers don’t just give answers, they engage in a process that asks questions, listen to answers and encourage the listener to solve their own problems. Also, if you think about it, asking questions is the first step to learning and uncovering details to take better decisions.
Strategic thinking is the key to look at problems from different angles--to ask yourself questions about your situation, not just offer answers. It’s also to look at the long-term solutions rather than just the short term.
Strategic thinking doesn’t arise from creativity or genius; it comes from lots and lots of brainstorming and questioning, which in turn comes from lots and lots of learning experiences and lots and lots of mistakes.
Good managers can take their staff to the next level by simply setting achievable goals and expectations that don’t hamper their productivity. Set clear goals and expectations that are measurable.
Goals ideally should also be result-oriented so that talented employees can quantify the end goal and feel appreciated and motivated as opposed to stressed and burdened which happens with abstract goals. Following these principles makes performance management a lot easier.
Managers who are accountable, show integrity and ethics, set a great example of how they should be viewed by the organization, co-workers, and most important their team. A manager demonstrates accountability by being willing to take responsibility and make decisions.
They demonstrate integrity by keeping their word, including spending their time wisely. And they demonstrate ethics by being honest, treating everyone with respect, and respecting the work of others. These are traits that shouldn't be overlooked by potential employers when interviewing. All this will build respect among co-workers as well as goodwill within the organization.
A company is doomed without the ability to innovate. If companies play it safe and only stick with what they know, they will get left behind by their more innovative counterparts. A great manager is innovative and is always willing to look beyond and challenge a company’s established methods in order to improve overall performance. An innovative approach can help a company stay cutting edge, and stand out among competitors.
Whether you want to create a program for a specific project, award your employees for their work or even commemorate milestones, having an employee reward and recognition program can be beneficial for any office. The effects of such a program are often far-reaching. Good managers can use it to foster loyalty, promote productivity and enhance performance.
As a manager, it's your job to ensure that each of your team members is growing and developing throughout the employee lifecycle. Encourage growth by helping your employees to grow at work. Make it clear that they are learning, growing and are capable of achieving new heights. Encourage diversity as well as individual strengths and talent. Be willing to see the talent within your workers.
“Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another,”. It is an indispensable managerial quality. A part of delegating is not just tasking someone with a job - it involves extracting the key ideas and getting everyone working on an individual piece of the same project. It is also important to be aware of others' feelings and not make perfunctory comments like "I'm sorry you're going through that". Instead, an empathetic manager should recognize and validate the emotion felt by their employees or workmates; such recognition will bring them closer together as well.
We found that these traits are not innate, but can be learned. It takes a long time for an individual to develop these characteristics and those who have them should treasure them like the pearl of great price. However, not all with the same position or job title have the same level of power. The ability of managers to win others over, to influence change, and encourage people to work toward common goals depends on their desire, efforts and skills as a manager. It is not right to assume that because someone has a higher rank or pay grade, they are also a better manager than one who has lower rank or pay. Management requires more than just one skill; it is essential that you know how to handle yourself in whatever situation you are needed. We can’t control other people’s attitudes, but we can at least control our own attitudes concerning others.
The qualities we’ve listed here might help you develop into a good manager, but the most important thing of all is personal growth. No matter how much time you spend trying to improve yourself, you’ll never be a truly great manager unless you commit yourself to constant self-improvement. Some days that might mean working on your interpersonal communication skills, and some days it might mean working on your technical or creative abilities. It all depends on your strengths and weaknesses—but whatever you do, try to take real pride in every improvement that you make over time.
These skills, strategies and personality traits will help you build a strong foundation for being a good manager. Start practicing on an individual or group level, gaining experience and discovering what works best for you and the individuals you manage.
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Being a great general manager is not as simple as people think. Running a company means overseeing every single aspect of the company–its financials, its operations, its customer service and increasingly–its strategies. It’s the job of a general manager to keep everything running smoothly.
Some key aspects that makes a good general managers are:
1. Define performance standards for all departments and verticals
2. Identify and communicate value systems through the ranks
3. Tailor strategic visions for the company/departments/subsidiaries
4. Allocate resources to bring those strategies to life
5. Mentor future leaders of the company
6. Delegate and monitor day to day operations
The golden rule of management is to treat your employees as you want to be treated by them. However, some people argue that this approach might be too lenient and not ensure the same output as others. It is advisable to do what works best for the entire team.
Great managers have excellent listening skills, empathize with their workers, help empower them and make them feel valued, understand the wider picture to guide workers’ decisions and priorities, deliver criticism when needed and act as a great mentor. They all know how to use their time wisely; they are organized; and they have the ability to work with others of different natures and personalities. Although management is a challenging vocation and a tough job, everything that helps make an employee successful may also help make a manager stand out.
The truth is, there’s no real answer here. There’s no one-size fits all management style that will be best for everyone, because everyone is different. Rather than forcing one manager’s style onto every worker, try out a few methods and see how they work for your team. Above all, great managers need to be flexible enough to adjust as needed to fit their employees. There’s no one right way to lead, but with the right amount of effort and understanding of your workers, you can create the perfect environment for success—for everyone involved.
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