My five pillars of a good manager

 

[temple pillars*]

In life, people experience managers of many different stripes, from awful AWOL privates to great 5-star generals. Some of us even take on team leadership tasks for periods of time with various levels of success. Regardless of the size of the staff and scope of the tasks, I see many common elements to effective leaders, including technical skill, broad prospective, emotional intelligence, courage and genuineness. Clearly, no person is naturally great at all of them but it is possible to assess and improve weak areas in order to become a truly successful executive.

[Rubik's cube]

The easiest qualification to measure in a prospective and acting manager is technical skill in the area of activity. In order to understand the process and retain the respect of the staff, a manager must know the ins and outs of the activity. It is not accidental that Japanese corporate policy was (and may still be) to post junior managers to all departments before promoting them to general manager positions as that practical knowledge allows them to understand which skills and support they must provide. Moreover, professionals respect others that can perform at a similar or higher level. Without this respect, employees tend to view superiors as outsiders.

[prairie horizon

However, specific expertise does necessarily correlate with managerial success due to the need for a global view. Unlike frontline employees, managers must balance priorities, financial and human resources and time to attain larger goals. Good enough is often the best that can be achieved. Consequently, it is the essential mission of the manager to keep an eye on the ultimate goal without overly stressing the details. Some employees naturally have this ability while others have to be coached or taught. Successful in-house manager development requires awareness of this skill.

[lion and child]

Even when the vision is present, managers require emotional intelligence to harness the talents of the active participants and motivate them. Since every human being has a different skill set, employees are not identical. The key to success to employing the best person for each task to the extent possible. Since a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, random or mistaken assignment of personnel can lead to failure. Moreover, it is often necessary to accept that a certain employee performs a task differently but still effectively. Another cause of failure is the assumption of universal motivation, generally financial. Many employees value recognition or praise just as much if not more than money and will go the extra mile if given it. A good manager of sports team or corporate department alike seeks to identify the key of each employee. People develop this intelligence to different degrees and at various ages. Ignoring this aspect of management is a recipe for failure while honing it is a key for long term success for both the manager and the company.

[leap between rocks]

A good manager is courageous. Courage is defined as the will to take the necessary action despite the fear of unpleasantness or failure. Calling in an employee to the office and criticizing poor performance is unpleasant but necessary. Firing is even more daunting, at least for most managers. In terms of self-exposure, it takes great self-confidence to admit to employees that you are responsible for a certain failure and are taking steps to prevent its reoccurrence. All managers face tasks that are emotionally difficult but the best do not run away from them but instead perform them with courage, even if nobody knows how painful or distressing it is.

[mirror face image]

Finally, a good manager is genuine. People respect leaders that do not pretend to be different than they are. No person and no manager have the same personality and set of skills. Likewise, communication style varies from person to person. Employees are willing to accept this package if they know it is real, not an act, and understand the intended message. Employees may not like their manager but will fully cooperate if they feel understand and respect the manager.

Clearly, there are many other attributes of good management, some teachable, other not. Some are clearly identifiable while others only appear under certain circumstances. People may be born with them, learn them or never learn them. However, from the perspective of an employee, the supervisors that I have most respected and worked the hardest for were those with these abilities. They are my personal pillars of a good leadership. 

* Captions help the blind access the Internet. All pictures via Pixab