By Martin Zwilling
Everyone in business loves to complain about their boss, and a classic Gallup study found that 50 percent of current employees have left at least one job in their career to get away from a bad manager. When asked for clarification, the most common reason seems to be a managers’ lack of clarity in setting expectations, which is obviously one of the most basic of employee needs.
On the other hand, almost every one of us in business can remember that one special manager in their career who exemplifies the norm, who commanded our trust, and treated us with respect, even in the toughest of business crises.
In an effort to be a better business advisor, and recognizing that the answer is not usually as simple as a single dimension, I have asked my own sample of employees at all levels for a list of key traits or attributes they see in great managers, resulting in the following list of ten top positive traits of a good boss:
1. Clearly communicates performance expectations. Even your best performers don’t like to be surprised after the fact by unknown expectations. One of the easiest ways to avoid surprises is to set deliverable milestone targets for each employee for every period. Then review the performance versus the roadmap and deliverables on a weekly basis.
2. Shows leadership as well as management skills. As Drucker said, “management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Every employee appreciates guidance on both – to do the right thing at the right point in time, towards attainment of the organization’s goals, as well as employee satisfaction and perceived productivity.
3. Demonstrates extensive and current domain knowledge. Good bosses demonstrate relevant expertise and confidence about that knowledge, as well as the common sense to make quick productive decisions. This requires continuous learning, an ability to think outside the box, and the flexibility to change as the market and technology changes.
4. Possesses foresight and skills to plan and delegate. Great managers make it a point to understand the specific strengths of team members, and then scheduling tasks and delegating to the right people to get tasks done within deadlines. The best managers are guides and coaches, with a concrete plan based on goals, not just crisis commanders.
5. Provides positive and timely employee recognition. Most employees are more motivated by recognition than by money. You must immediately recognize team members, formally and informally, when they complete something successfully or show initiative. Over the long-term, make sure they get more positive than negative recognition.
6. Is an active listener, and provides immediate feedback. Listening to what is said, as well as what is not said, is of the utmost importance. It is demoralizing to an employee to be speaking to a supervisor who is interrupted for a phone call. Good managers plan for feedback sessions, and pick a venue that is conducive to discussion and adequate time.
7. Stays cool and calm in tough business situations. A great manager is an effective communicator and a composed individual, with a proven tolerance for ambiguity. He or she never loses their cool, keeps their ego in check, and is able to correct team members without emotional body language or statements. They don’t always have to be right.
8. Shows empathy for individual problems and challenges. This refers to the ability to “walk in another person’s shoes”, and to have insight into the thoughts, and the emotional reactions of individuals faced with change or the need to change. Empathy is suspending judgment of another’s actions or reactions, while treating them with sensitivity.
9. Provides a role model for honesty, integrity, and humility. Simply put, today’s managers live in glass houses. Everything that a manager does is seen by employees. If a manager says one thing and does another, employees broadcast it. Managers must be straightforward in all words and actions, including admitting weaknesses and mistakes.
10. Always displays a positive sense of humor. People of all demographics respond to humor, and respect managers who can find humor even in tough business and personal situations. The majority of people are able to be amused at something funny, and see an irony. One of the most frequently cited attractions to a manager is their sense of humor.
Since most of these traits must seem intuitively obvious, it’s hard for me to understand why so many managers and employees miss on expectations. Perhaps it’s time for employees and team members to adopt and display these traits as well, especially the one about empathy for the challenges that your manager is facing. Only then can it be a win-win relationship for both parties.
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