I have worked for a variety of managers to date and have met many more along the way! As a result, I have experienced many traits I admire and some traits I dislike. These are the Top ten traits that I most like in a people manager.
- Give credit in public – acknowledge your staff’s contribution and don’t pretend you do all the work!
- Promote people with potential – you should look out for the high performers and help them become the leaders of the future.
- Be honest about people’s performance – give constructive feedback – both negative and positive and don’t make false promises about salary increases that will never happen.
- Create a co-operative and collaborative environment where peers help each other rather – avoid “warring tribes” syndrome.
- Don’t ask your people to do something that you’re unwilling to do yourself.
- Be respectful towards individuals. People respond positively when treated with dignity and respect.
- Take the time to build team spirit. Hold team meetings and build in time for team members to meet each other face-to-face. This will dramatically improve their working relationship.
- Be supportive when your people make mistakes. It’s easy to be nice when everything is going well, but great managers give support to their team members when things are going wrong.
- Trust your team to do their job – give clear direction and review progress, but don’t disempower your staff by micromanaging their hourly activities.
- Build relationships – work is about more than getting the task done, it’s also about building relationships with colleagues and stakeholders. Great managers make an effort to connect on a personal level with their team members, helping to understand what makes them tick. And if they like Bruce Springsteen then that is a great start!
How many of these traits do you already exhibit? At Aspira we do our best to demonstrate these traits, as I believe it is a key factor in any successful company.
I find this quote really good to guide my thinking and behaviours “People do not leave a company, they leave a manager”
Author: Mary Dwyer, Operations Manager, Aspira.
