Top ten reasons managers become great

As a positive counterpoint to my list of why managers become assholes, and as a counterbalance to my tendency to write cynically, here’s a list of why people become great at managing others, trying as much as possible not to just do the stupid thing and invert my other list.

Enjoy helping people grow. Few things feel better than helping someone who is new to a role, or who has been struggling, into becoming a productive, confident person. There’s a kind of satisfaction in helping someone figure out how to be successful that doesn’t come from many other living experiences. Great mangers love seeing this happen on their teams.
Love creating positive environments. A great manager creates a team and and office environment that makes it easy for smart people to do good things. They love that moment when they wander the halls and see all sorts of amazing things happening all on their own, with passionate, motivated people doing good work without much involvement from the manager.
Want to correct mistakes inflicted on them. Some great managers are looking to undo the evil managers they had. Rather than take it out on their subordinates, they want to do a kind of pay it forward revenge: prove to themselves and the world that it can be better that what happened to them in the past. This can create the trap of fighting the last war: your team may not care at all about avoiding the mistakes of your previous manager. They want to avoid the mistakes you, and your blind spots, are probably making right now.
Care deeply about the success and well being of their team. Thoroughbred horses get well cared for. Their owners see them as an expensive asset and do whatever they can to optimize their health, performance, and longevity, even if their motivations are largely selfish. A great manager cares deeply about their staff, and goes out of his way to protect, train, care for, and reward their own team, even if their primary motivation is their own success.
Succession mentality. A successful manager eventually realizes their own leadership will end one day, but if they teach and instill the right things into people who work for them, that philosophy can live on for a long time, long after the manager is gone. This can go horribly wrong (See, history of monarchies) but the desire to have a lasting impact generally helps people think on longer term cycles and pay attention to wider trends short term managers do not notice.
Long term sense of reward. Many of the mistakes managers make involve reaping short term rewards at the expense of long term loyalty and morale. Any leader who inverts this philosophy, and makes short term sacrifices to provide long term gains, will generally be a much better manager. They recognize the value of taking the time to explain things, to build trust, to provide training, and to build relationships, all of which results in a kind of team performance and loyalty the short term manager never believes is possible.
Practice of the golden rule. It’s funny how well known this little gem is, and rare in life people follow it. But I think anyone in power who believes in it, and treats all of their employees the same way they truly would want to be treated, or even better, treats employees as they actually want to be treated, will always be a decent, above average manager. A deeply moral person can’t help but do better than most people, as treating people with respect, honesty and trust are the 3 things I suspect most people wish they could get from their bosses.
Self aware, including weaknesses. This is the kicker. Great leaders know what they suck at, and either work on those skills or hire people they know make up for their own weaknesses, and empower them to do so. This tiny little bit of self-awareness makes them open to feedback and criticism to new areas they need to work on, and creates an example for movement in how people should be growing and learning about new things.
Sets tone of healthy debate and criticism. If the boss gives and takes feedback well, everyone else will too. If the boss is defensive, passive-aggressive, plays favorites, or does other things that work against the best idea winning, everyone else will play these destructive games. Only a boss who sees their own behavior as a model the rest of the organization will tend to follow can ever become a truly great manager. Without this, they will always wonder why the team behaves in certain unproductive ways that are strangely familiar.
Willing to fight, but picks their battles. Great managers are not cowards. They are willing to stake their reputation and make big bets now and then (I’d say at least once a year, as a totally random, put possibly useful stake in the ground). However they are not crazy either. They are good at doing political math and seeing which battle is worth the fight at a given time. A manager that never fights can never be great – they will never have enough skin in the game to earn the deepest level of respect of the people that work for them. But a manager that always fights is much worse. They continually put their own ego ahead of what their team is capable of.
(Bonus!) Instinctively corrects bad behavior within their team. True story: on a new team I once saw a mid level manager make a personal attack of a junior employee in front of the VP. I looked at the VP, expecting him to jump in. He did nothing. Not a thing. Message to team? It’s ok to pick on people if you outrank them. Micromanaging is never good, but correcting destructive behavior, is always appropriate even if you have to jump levels to do it (Sure, perhaps there was an offline conversation. But something like this was so egregious it should have been corrected on the spot). Nothing builds morale and respect faster than a manager who jumps in to the fray to defend someone who is being picked on by a bully, except perhaps a manager who gets rid of the bully altogether.

Also see: Advice for new managers (A popular essay)

What did I miss? Think of the last great manager you had and what traits you’d add to the above.

Posted Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 1:09 am

in Management | 34 Comments » |

Dwayne Phillips - April 9, 2009 at 4:09 am

I believe that Self-Aware is the most important item. If I am aware of myself and what I am doing, I can do all the other things better.

It is this struggle to see myself as other people are seeing me that plagues me and most people I know.

I highly recommend the writings and teachings of Jerry Weinberg in this area.

Oliver Ruehl - April 9, 2009 at 5:39 am

Great read.
Its about time I comment on one of my favourite blogs (besides FAIL! ha ha)

I’m from Europe (Germany) and i need to send this list around ;-)

It boggles my mind that i find most of the qualities listed only in the “normal” employees that work with me Ã¢â‚¬â€ NOT the managers. Hmm… pretty sad actually.

Many managers demand specific qualities of their employees – but usually managers don’t possess these qualities themselves…

How can that be changed?

Oliver

P.S. I like your cynical style. Hey, I’m German :)

Gary - April 9, 2009 at 9:58 am

I would add couple of points

Sometimes it’s important for individuals and teams to learn from their mistakes. If the manager constantly steps in just as disaster is about to strike then the team will never gain the scars that eventually heal into experience.

And just like the poem Footprints, a good manager knows when to carry their team without anyone ever knowing or suspecting it.

‘During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you’.

In other words a good manager knows when and when not to get involved.

Scott - April 9, 2009 at 1:28 pm

Oliver: it’s hard not to run aground in the “why do we expect managers to be different than regular people” idea. I agree. Sure. If I was picking a teammate or a housemate, I’d want many of these same qualities too.

And of course, I entirely left out competence. I mean, you do want your boss to be good at the thing he’s managing you to do. Maybe not as good as you are, but he should know some things you don’t, or have useful experiences you don’t have.

Tim - April 9, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Excellently done.

Last week, out of frustration, I started to work on a much more specific, more practical set of rules. Here are some selections:

1. Answer every email. It’s just polite, let’s people know that you’ve heard them, and leaves open the possibility that you’re not just blowing them off.

2. Do what you say you’re going to do. If you can’t, let the appropriate people know that you can’t and when you plan to get back to it.

3. Avoid sudden policy changes, or sudden and unexpected enforcement of previously unenforced policies. If you must suddenly change policies, talk directly to the people who will be affected. Don’t have some underling contact them to deliver the news. And don’t call your sudden policy change a “misunderstanding.”

Scott - April 9, 2009 at 1:43 pm

Hi Tim: I particularly like #2. It’s a golden rule kind of thing. Mean what you say and say what you mean. And if you fail to do what you say, apologize.

For awhile I had an entire bullet for apologizing, but had to cut it to get back down to 11 :(

Jason Alba - April 10, 2009 at 6:03 am

I like the list… wish my old boss had it posted on his wall! One I would add, which is one I tried to practice, was to always work on helping my team members move on to better opportunities. If I could not provide the best career-growth opportunity for an individual, and they found something else, I had to be their biggest support as them moved on. Kind of hard to practice when you are losing an A-player but it is the right thing to do!

Jason Alba
Creator – “LinkedIn for Job Seekers” DVD
http://www.ImOnLinkedInNowWhat.com

Shoun of the Dead - April 10, 2009 at 6:47 am

u forgot one really main, right now i am sitting in the office taking a few moments off to read this blog…my point is wat about a boss who values the time of the subordinates and not call them at odd times to come to work, regardless of the personal times of the employees??

Bob - April 10, 2009 at 10:44 am

Those are great points. Although, that doesn’t sound like any manager I’ve ever had or encountered. Most have just been out for themselves. Once they get into a mgmt position, they will do anything to stay there. They are never wrong. They definitely don’t listen to new ideas and when they do, they pass them off as their own. Their management thinks they are some sort of a golden child when all they’re really good at is kissing up!

I do agree that those are all great management qualities, it’s just extremely rare that you see those in the real world.

Weekly Leader - April 11, 2009 at 10:39 am

Scott Berkun’s Top 10 Reasons Managers Become Great or Not…

Over the past few monthÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Scott Berkun has written several interesting posts about leadership for his always blog on Ã¢â‚¬Å“management and creative thinking.Ã¢â‚¬Â
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “”, url: “” });……

cyncialrealist - April 11, 2009 at 12:07 pm

The most important is “Works within an organizational culture that allows a positive environment to take root and grow.”

When you work in a larger organizational culture/climate that is toxic, the efforts of one are typically thwarted by the many. You can control what is within your control, you cannot set a tone for healthy debate in a culture that feels the very concept of ‘debate’ is unhealthy.

Plant the seed in healthy soil because it cannot grow on rocks.

Scott - April 11, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Kelvin: Yeah, I know. I thought about it for awhile and as poorly treated as horses or even livestock might be, from at least one perspective they can be treated better than some employees – their owners study how to get as much value from them as possible and invest in making that happen.

So I’m not suggesting to go read “How to treat your employees like horses” or anything.

And of course, if you consider that a successful racehorse spends only a few years racing and the rest of his life siring/breeding… Not too shabby.

Kim - April 13, 2009 at 3:52 pm

There are two things that I think make a good manager.

The first is that a manager has a reponsibility to both the company and his subordinates and a good manager ensures a good balance between the two. Too often a manager is too company centric. On the other hand a manager should not be manipulated by his subordinates.

The second is that a good manager makes decisions. Too many managers avoid making decisions. Even the odd bad decision is better than no decision.

Bijan Mohanty - April 13, 2009 at 10:48 pm

We can add one more trait that make managers great i.e to lead from the front in times of prosperty and also in Crisis . Greatness of a manager becomes more visible when he leads the team against all odds and protects them even at his own cost .

Bijan Mohanty - April 13, 2009 at 10:52 pm

We can add one more trait that make managers great i.e the ability to lead from the front in times of prosperty as well as adversity . It is specifically during adversity that the greatness comes to the fore when he leads and protects the team against all odds .

Lynn M - April 15, 2009 at 9:54 am

These are excellent! One thing I’ve always appreciated in managers, but also co-workers, teachers, and friends is CONSISTENCY. If your employees know what to expect from you, they will feel more secure in their own job and more willing to communicate with you. People don’t like having to be on their toes trying to guess which personality they are going to have to face each day when it comes to a manager. Be consistent in your attitude, your expectations, and how you handle issues.

Wally Bock - April 17, 2009 at 4:27 am

Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best independent business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.

http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2009/04/15/91509-midweek-look-at-the-independent-business-blogs.aspx

Wally Bock

Scott - April 17, 2009 at 8:27 am

A resource that coincides with the list…

Book: Dropping Almonds
Author: Bach Anon
Premise: Analysis of a company through the eyes of an executive. You might be surprised at the actions and outcome of Bach’s 2+ years as an executive

Subtitle: All that work for so little return

Dee Fleming - April 24, 2009 at 8:31 am

Related to many on your list – but worth calling out: Back up your team – don’t throw them under the bus to save your own butt. Assuming the boss and team have discussed the position and/or proposal — there is just no good excuse for ditching the agreement at the crucial moment, just because the boss senses it is not necessarily the popular opinion in the room. This is one of the worst things a Manager can do. From that moment forward, trust and respect disappear from the team…

Don - April 24, 2009 at 8:41 am

Good list and a number of good comments. I would like to see two additional thoughts explored:
1) The list appears to assume a “steady state” of the business. Given current worldwide economic upheaval, many businesses (and their business model) will fail, and hence impact a team’s operations and environment. What attributes must a manager exhibit to anticipate and communicate significant changes? Maybe it is a combination of your existing points trust and courage to innovate.
2) Given next gen use of social networking tools, where traditional command and control management systems are less relevant, what attribute should a manager have to best harness that energy?

Richard Hamilton - April 24, 2009 at 10:40 am

I like the idea that succession planning isn’t just looking for someone to replace you, but is in fact preparing your team to carry on even if they get a not-so-great manager, an overworked manager (e.g., merged teams), or no manager at all.

Thanks for the excellent article.

Friday Noon Videos | Sips from the Firehose - April 24, 2009 at 10:56 am

[...] OK, this one is very, very NSFW.Â It stands in stark contrast with Scott Berkin’s blog post on Top Ten reasons managers become great. Seth Rogen channels the boss who is trying to convince himself that he’s still in control, but [...]

What is an expert and top ten reasons managers become great - links » Who’s The Judge? - April 30, 2009 at 3:29 am

[...] like this too, especially the point that managers become great if they are self aware – they know their [...]

Sharon Nani - June 6, 2009 at 2:58 am

Great article, interesting comments, but the thing that inspires me to write is the concluding phrase in the footer: “…joy is free and recommended.” So true. I love it!

On Good and Bad Managers » Lone Gunman - October 17, 2009 at 5:59 am

[...] (rather than altering our internal behaviour or world view) reminded me of this piece, discussing reasons managers become great (via Kottke). Reasons [...]