“Your success as a manager is simply the result of how good you are at hiring the people around you.”
~ Joe Mansueto, Morning Star ~
If you are or have ever been a manager to one or many individuals, you understand the true meaning of what a great manager is, and hopefully, you will take pride, professionalism, and put your heart into the opportunity to manage others. When reflecting on past bad managers, we can all quickly recall the ones that were not good and didn’t manage well, and the great managers who were amazing, that inspired us and helped us become the best versions of ourselves. Each one of those managers, good or bad made an impact in our lives, one way or another.
Being a great manager means you are accountable for the role you play to engage, coach, train, and mentor others. You lead by example. Sometimes managers take this opportunity for granted and when you do this you can struggle to earn the respect of others and set a great example manager should set. We must value the leadership role and when you understand this and fill the shoes well, you gain the respect of others who then lead by your example, and you become the trendsetter. You will see great managers are visible and interact with their teams and others, and by doing this they create an environment where people show up for work every day because they are engaged and want to be there, and not just because they must, but because the love who they work for, who they work with, and what they’re doing. The bonus is when they also believe in what the company does and offers to the community, and they value leadership. This is also a note to yourself when you’re hiring which will help you identify the best talent for you, your team, and the organization.
Being a great manager requires you to fill some big shoes but once you get the basics down, it’s an extremely rewarding career opportunity that will provide an interesting career path. In addition, the role generally comes with a great deal of respect from leadership and employees when you manage well. A management role is one of the most critical roles in an organization and it does tend to be a thankless role at times. Managers must learn to find a balance between their employee’s needs and requirements, the business goals, and their employee’s well-being, which isn’t always easy to discover. However, when you take your professional development seriously and seek the training and coaching opportunities you need to learn, that is when the reward is tenfold. When these skills don’t come naturally to you, you must invest the necessary time to better equip yourself to be a great manager.
Typically, managers have full plates and workloads are high which can elevate stress. When our employees are in the wrong seats, or they are not a good cultural fit for the manager, team, or company, things can go sideways quickly, causing more stress with a greater possibility of failure. Carefully managing the performance of your team needs to be done with a great deal of laser focus. Effectively delegating work is also important to free up your time which can help you lead and manage your employees that take focused time. Hence the importance of creating a pattern of consistency, customization, and passion will help prevent management failures. When you effectively access your team members through the hiring process, you surround yourself with a greater team that is easier to manage and that will also reduce unnecessary stress. Communicating with your direct team and other teams the bridge any communication gap will help you be successful in managing your role extremely well. Everyone loves a transparent and open manager who will speak from the heart and openly. Listening to your team and ensuring those employees you understand and will do your best to ensure the right members of the leadership team encourages transparency upward which can bridge the gap at the higher level as well.
Also, being able to manage up when your team is ready and manage out when needed is a great skill to become great at. By applying leadership and management practices to your everyday work, you are on a great path to managing a team well!
Great employees are happy and thrive in what they do and are passionate about the work they do and who they work with. They get it! They will work hard when they are respected, appreciated, and find their work challenging because they want it and can do it. This is an engaged and great employee, but don’t forget to hang onto this employee because they can be difficult to find. The beauty of this is that you are in the seat that can hire and fire people, and when you’re not happy with their performance you must take the appropriate steps to ensure you’ve done all you could to make them successful. Ask yourself and evaluate your progress to help them and if you’re 100% sure you have not failed them, you should remove them from the organization. Toxic or bad performing employees will cost you, the team, and the company more time than they are worth.
“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.
~John C. Maxwell~
Being a great manager is extremely rewarding, especially when you can positively influence the lives of others and watch them transform into something greater than they ever imagined. A great manager knows how to achieve this, but it takes a certain drive and vision to cultivate this through leading by training, coaching, mentoring, and inspiring and motivating those individuals. Great managers help their employees define a career path and then help them worth towards it to advance and expand their skillsets. Be that manager that makes a difference and is passionate about helping others be the best versions of themselves.
We only have one life, so invest in making your life your best life!
~ Tonia Martinez~
