Effective managers demonstrate certain behaviours, writes Kim Morgan, founder of Barefoot Coaching.
Many people are promoted to management positions because were good at the technical aspects of their previous role.
However, good management or leadership requires a very different set of skills, most of which have nothing to do with technical ability and everything to do with a genuine interest in others and their continued development.
The most technically able member of staff might not be the ideal person to be promoted to a management position. The team member who exhibits care, compassion, support and challenge towards others – and towards themselves – might be a better choice for promotion.
What are the characteristics and behaviours of a good manager?
A manager’s ability to listen with interest and attention allows team members to feel heard and respected.
Good managers begin team meetings by encouraging a listening environment, where each person is given five minutes to speak about their thoughts and feelings and is listened to by the rest of the team without interruption.
This often results in the team meeting being shorter and more productive than usual, as peoples’ thoughts or ideas are not hijacked by questions, objections or interjections from others. Instead, people wait their turn to offer their thoughts.
Being a good manager means asking more than telling and adopting a coaching style with team members. Managers who ask questions demonstrate interest in their people and encourage an environment of psychological safety and solution-focused thinking.
Good coaching questions are open-ended and succinct and set the stage for team members to do any or all of the following:
increase their manager’s awareness of certain situations or issues.
challenge or change their manager’s perspectives.
design goals and methods.
propose alternative solutions to those put forward.
identify or highlight their feelings.
generate ideas through creative thinking or visualisation.
detail progress (or lack of it).
identify what is holding them back.
test their manager’s motivation or commitment.
Care and compassion are key elements of effective management. Good managers take an interest in their team members and have enough knowledge of them as individuals to notice when someone is having a difficult time.
At times like this, a good manager will be able to identify the appropriate level of support required; for example, further training or development, confidence building, mentoring or coaching or more challenging projects.
When the entire team is under pressure, a good manager will roll up their sleeves and lend a hand. Effective, confident managers are comfortable praising and appreciating their team members and take time to celebrate individual and collective successes.
Team members need to feel clear about what is expected of them, so successful managers will set clear expectations and boundaries.
Good managers hold team members accountable, provide regular check-ins and constructive feedback, and are comfortable with an environment of healthy challenge and conflict within the team.
If you have had a good manager, the chances are you that you will become a good manager to others. It's important to remember that your direct reports will be learning from your management style.
They won’t learn from what you say as much as from what you do. Therefore a good manager role models the behaviours they want to encourage in others.
Consider what messages your behaviours send to your team. You might want to try the following exercise: answer the questions below and then ask your team members to answer the same questions about you – in an atmosphere of psychological safety.
How often do I praise others?
How comfortable am I challenging others?
What would other people say about the environment in my team?
How loyal am I towards my team and the wider company?
How consistently do I keep promises and do what I have said I would do?
How good am I at apologising if I get something wrong?
How often do I celebrate individual and team successes?
How well do I listen?
What is the balance of my management style between asking and telling?