I am truly proud of my career accomplishments as a leader and manager. It’s always heartwarming to receive genuine accolades from individuals who have enjoyed working with me in the past and present. Similarly, I have worked for several great leaders and managers and have personally experienced how an exceptional manager can positively impact one’s confidence, productivity, effectiveness, and overall health—physical and mental.
As it happens, we spend most of our lives working—often spending more time with our work families than with our actual families. There’s no better feeling than enjoying who you’re working with and reporting to on a daily basis. An exceptional manager can truly make reporting to work a joy—notwithstanding how you feel about your current job or position. Even more compelling, exceptional managers don’t just make successful employees, they make for successful companies and organizations.
On the contrary, a terrible manager can make us absolutely miserable. I’ve had my fair share of terrible managers and it’s dreadful. As such, when you have a bad manager it erodes trust, derails productivity, and compromises the ability to fulfill the mission of a company or organization. Moreover, the toll it takes on one’s physical and mental health can have devastating consequences.
Over the years, I’ve managed to consistently build and grow successful programs and teams. The truth is, I’m able to do this over and over again because of a very simple formula that works like a charm. As a result, no matter what obstacles arise, my teams are able to weather the inevitable corporate storms, relish our achievements, and hit our goals.
If you aspire to lead or manage people—or if you already do, but want to improve your management skills—here is a list of six things you should do to be an exceptional manager.
Number 1: An Exceptional Manager Tells the Truth
When I say tell the truth, I mean tell you—yourself—and others the truth. As New York Times Bestselling Author Spencer Johnson says, “Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” To the same effect, my father always instilled in me the importance of my behaviors and protecting my name. He would say, “Your name is your character.” In other words, operate from a place of truth so that your name accurately reflects your values.
Telling yourself the truth is the precursor for being able to tell others the truth. To that effect, truth is the bedrock of all other skills you must excel at in order to be an exceptional manager. By telling the truth, you are able to authentically and accurately communicate your values through your words and behavior. The truth allows you to lead by example, be transparent, be humble, and genuinely celebrate others and their strengths.
Similarly, your ability to tell yourself and others the truth lays a pathway for others to tell you the truth. In order to make solid business decisions, your team members must be able to approach you with accurate information about any and everything. You must encourage your team members to tell you the truth, and reassure them through your actions that they should not be afraid to level with you.
In addition, you must demonstrate to your team that you will make the required course corrections with the information they share. Your positive response to the truth—and subsequent actions—serves as positive reinforcement. In other words, your actions demonstrate to your teammates that you value and embrace hearing the truth. If you want to go on a deep dive to gain a deeper understanding of the role of truth telling in organizations, check out this article by Bruce Bodaken and Robert Fritz for The Systems Thinker.
Number 2: An Exceptional Manager Trusts Their Teammates
I have always believed that you should trust your teammates until they give you a reason not to. I find that giving people the benefit of the doubt is way more beneficial to you and the company or organization than it is harmful. When you’ve established a relationship based on truth, it makes it easier to get to the bottom of things and take informed and appropriate action.
Is it possible that someone might take advantage of you or a situation? Sure. But it’s very rare that it happens. If it does, don’t let one bad apple spoil the barrel. If anything, use the experience as an opportunity to coach the teammate and empower them to grow from their misdoings. You might find that they made a genuine mistake or that their KSAs are better suited for another role where they can truly play to their strengths and shine. In the worst-case scenario, maybe you find that they are a poor fit for the organization.
As one of my favorite rappers, J. Cole, says, “Fool me one time, shame on you. Fool me twice, can’t put the blame on you.” If the issue persists and it gets to a third time, you know you’re experiencing a worst-case scenario. Suffice to say, you don’t need me to tell you what to do. However, I firmly believe in effective selection and hiring practices that should weed out the likelihood of worst-case scenarios. If due diligence was taken in hiring the person in question, start by giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Furthermore, I have found that individuals genuinely want to engage in meaningful and good work and appreciate having the autonomy to do so. Therefore, don’t micromanage your teammates. Instead, spend time getting to know their preferred management style. Also, work to understand and meet their needs. Lastly, adapt to their management style and needs. [If getting to know each of your teammates sounds daunting and like a waste of time, I’d caution you otherwise. Here’s a Harvard Business Review article for you to do some additional reading in case you need convincing]. Ultimately, when you set clear expectations grounded in ethical and equitable practices, provide on-demand coaching that meets teammates’ needs, and provide positive reinforcement, you get desired results.
Number 3: An Exceptional Manager Is Compassionate
We’re all human beings trying to get through life’s ups and downs. Allow your teammates to be human. It’s crucial that you genuinely care about your teammates and their experiences. Your teammates best days should always serve as solid footing to extend grace to them during their worst days. Take genuine interest in what is happening in their lives—the good, the bad, and the awful.
There are any number of ways for an exceptional manager to rise to the occasion in times where a concerted effort of compassion is required—especially during difficult times in peoples’ personal lives. Moreover, compassion is at the root of flexibility, mentoring, coaching, thoughtful gestures, kind acts, and mindful interactions.
Refrain from getting trigger happy when someone falls short of your expectations. Instead, start by having a non-accusatory discovery conversation. Become a skillful sleuth by taking a genuine and empathetic interest in your teammate’s state of being. As they’re sharing their experiences, listen to hear versus to respond.
As you connect the dots, summarize to the individual what it is that you are hearing from them. This ensures that your understanding of the situation is accurate. Once you have an accurate picture, the brainstorming can begin to find resolution that works for you and your teammate. Here’s an insightful Harvard Business Review article for you to learn more about the power of compassion as a managerial tactic.
Number 4: An Exceptional Manager Is Coachable
While any good manager worth their salt is expected to coach their teammates, an exceptional manager should also welcome being coached by their teammates. That is to say, you the manager should listen to, hear the truth from, and value the feedback and two cents of your direct reports.
If there is one thing I have learned about bad leadership and management, it is that they don’t listen. To be an exceptional manager, you must create an effective feedback loop. If it’s feasible, the optimum feedback loop is through a system of one-on-one conversations. Other effective mechanisms include a system of in-person group feedback, surveys, and questionnaires. It’s best for all feedback to be traceable to the appropriate individuals so that you can follow up and dig in. However, there are unique situations, such as a toxic environment, that might require anonymous feedback to prime the pump for honesty and safety.
It’s important to recognize that multiple heads are always better than one. If you are surrounded by a great team that is honest in its communication and there is trust in the knowledge, expertise, skills, and abilities of your teammates, you should listen to what they have to say. There is no better way to nurture an environment of open and transparent communication, than to request sincere feedback.
Furthermore, you should make it easy for them to provide you with insight. By listening to your teammates and heeding their insights, your decision-making improves, your relationships flourish, and you are able to polish up in areas of deficit that otherwise would remain unknown to you—inevitably stifling your success. It goes without saying that teammates will recognize that you value their contributions and trust them.
There are a lot more benefits to being coachable as a manager and leader, especially if you want to ascend in your career regardless of how high you currently find yourself on that ladder. This brief Wharton article by Peter Dean sums it up well.
Number 5: An Exceptional Manager Celebrates Their Teammates
To whom much is given, much is expected. You can only become an exceptional manager through an exceptional team that is collectively working hard toward a common goal. Plain and simple, you can’t be an exceptional manager without exceptional people supporting you. After all, they are what make you exceptional, so it’s critical to give credit where credit is due. An exceptional manager will always create opportunities to recognize teammates for their efforts. [I’ll add that everyone has different preferences for how they prefer to be recognized and you should take the time to honor folks in a way that respects their preferences].
In order to recognize your teammate in a meaningful way, do some investigating and involve a few other teammates to help you. While awards are sometimes appropriate, smaller and less official gestures can be equally, or even more satisfying. This piece by the Harvard Business Review discusses the increase in productivity and other benefits as a result of employees who experience gratitude from a manager.
Indeed, it’s the little things that count. So, something as simple as crediting a teammate by name when talking about an idea can be sufficient. You could also systematically incorporate a moment of kudos into every monthly meeting, as an example. Or, maybe you tally up teammate’s efforts to include in a birthday card for them—so that they know you’re paying attention to their contributions throughout the year. Genuine recognition and sincere acknowledgement from a manager are critical to morale.
I talk about all of the positive effects of gratitude in another article I wrote, if you want to learn more.
Number 6: They Continuously Invest In Personal and Professional Development
If you want to be an exceptional manager, you must never stop learning. Take opportunities to sharpen the saw by participating in courses that teach you a new skill or help you deepen your understanding of a particular topic.
Nowadays, there are so many learning options. From Youtube to Open Educational Resources (OERs) to Pinterest to podcasts, you have access to all kinds of information. In addition, reading books is always a worthwhile method for gaining knowledge. That being said, you should still regularly incorporate coursework into your personal and professional development activities. As an example, this could be a one-off course on conflict resolution. Another option might be to earn a credential or certificate over a longer period of time. Likewise, you could go back to school to attain a new degree.
No matter which route you go, the important thing is to keep growing and stretching beyond your current knowledge base. It is always a humbling experience to be a novice at something. The simple act of being a novice at anything, in fact, flexes your muscles in humility, compassion, patience, and flexibility. You can even go a step further and share your journey with your teammates as a practice in honesty, transparency and vulnerability.
Most importantly, employ the intended and unintended lessons from your personal and professional development activities at work with your teammates. Further, you should actively encourage your teammates to participate in professional development too. To learn more about the benefits of professional development to you, your team and your employer, see this piece by Nanette at Journal of AHIMA.
In Summary
Truth be told, we’ve only skimmed the surface of what makes an exceptional manager. However, these six things I shared with you will position you firmly on a solid foundation to not just become an exceptional manager, but to get results. When you tell the truth, trust your teammates, lead with compassion, remain coachable, celebrate your teammates, and invest in personal and professional development, you stimulate synergy between your personal and professional goals.
By the same token, you achieve alignment in your personal and professional lives, whereby these two existences converge and enable you to be authentic and lead by example. Consequently, people will work hard for you whether you directly manage them or not. That is to say, regardless of whether individuals have a direct reporting line to you or not, it is through your power of influence that you are able to motivate individuals to achieve a common goal.
CHECK-IN
- What has been your experience working with an exceptional manager?
- Which quality do you value most in a manager?
- How do you incorporate these qualities into your own management style?
