What Makes a Great Manager?

What is the one trait that makes for a great manager—vision, empathy, intelligence, communication skills?  According to an article in the Wall Street Journal last week, the answer may surprise you.

The journal, citing a 10-year study of a large global firm with 200,000 employees and 30,000 managers in 100 countries, found the number one predictor of an effective manager is their ability to figure out people’s strengths and steer them into the jobs that suit them best through coaching and feedback. The net result of this managerial skill is employees who are more productive and earn more, a positive impact for both the company and the employees, lasting for years after the role switch.

These top-performing managers (about a quarter of all managers based on early promotion, salary growth, and standout 360-degree performance ratings) showed a knack for finding workers’ unrecognized strengths and aspirations and coaching and steering them toward better-fitting roles. These highly successful managers met with their employees more often and devoted almost 20% more time to 1:1 meetings with them than other less successful ones.  Even better, their employees described these managers as mentors who guided their career development with structured, strategic feedback and coaching and who created opportunities aligned with employee’s skills and aspirations.

In other words, they cared. They cared about the satisfaction and success of their employees.  They cared about their results. They cared about being a mentor to them as well as coaching them with productive, useful feedback.

Given the results of this study, the course of action for managers and leaders who want to get the most from their team is clear:  Company leaders should measure and reward managers for developing talent through smart reassignments, not just team member output. Companies should train their managers and leaders to know how to coach and build more superstars on their team. Companies should expect their leaders to spot their people’s unique strengths and coach them into better-fitting roles, if needed.

We see this dynamic a lot with clients of LionSpeak. Good employees are often tapped on the shoulder to move up into leadership roles because they were great at their jobs, but the skills needed to become an amazing manager are very different from the skills needed to excel at the technical or frontline level. Without proper training and support in the specific skills they need to coach and grow their people into superstars, they will likely fail.

Leadership and management are not a HR roles. They are roles of growth and performance. If you want managers and team leaders who are loved and respected by their employees, who uplift and challenge their team members, and who help your company achieve its vision while aligning with your values, then invest in them. Get your team leaders the training they need.

LionSpeak can help. We have taken our private Leadership Academy curriculum which was previously been reserved for individual companies and are now offering it to individual leaders as well. Our next cohort of 20 managers and leaders begins in November, and we still have a few spots left. We fully expect it to fill so don’t wait. Grab your seat now and join a group of like-minded leaders who want to make a big and positive difference for their companies, the people who look to them for guidance and for their own experience as an influencer of superstars.

“Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.”

~ Steve Jobs