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Lois Frankel of Corporate Coaching International says good managers regularly check in with staff members to share feedback and create milestones to monitor progress. Photo: Martin Barraud/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
In today’s tight job market, great management skills are more important than ever.
Businesses large and small must take steps to retain high performers and attract new ones. Working effectively with employees can do this.
But governance is not a one-and-done issue. Effective leaders constantly evaluate their workplace performance and look for ways to improve.
How good are you as a manager? In this article, business experts describe 10 indicators of effective leadership. Read what they say, then assess your own management skills by taking the related questions on page 3.
Indicators
1. Do you listen well? Effective listening is a core competency that is underrated by other management skills.
“When talking to employees, managers need to hear the words and the music,” says Johanna Rothman, founder of the Rothman Consulting Group in Arlington, Massachusetts. “This means understanding not only what the person is saying, but also the subtext.”
Rothman gives an example.
“Suppose a manager asks Jane: ‘Does everyone on your team work well together?’ She responded nonchalantly: ‘It’s okay.’ That to me is a big red flag and an early warning sign of bigger problems,” says Rothman.
On the surface, Rothman says the word “okay” is positive. The subtext, however, is that Jane’s team has dysfunctional elements that need addressing. Doing so requires a series of questions that encourage Jane to speak. A simple “Tell me more about the situation” can do the trick.
2. Do they clearly communicate the company’s priorities? Common goals drive business.
“Everyone’s priorities should be the same as the company’s CEO,” says Lois Frankel, president of Corporate Training International in Pasadena, California. “When you’re talking about the big picture of your company, where it’s going and how you’re going to help employees get there, that’s true leadership.”
Inspired by the knowledge of the company’s inspiring mission, employees develop their own creative techniques to enhance performance.
“People don’t manage,” says Frankel. “They only lead. Too often managers talk about how to do what needs to be done instead of letting people do it the way they want to do it.
Good managers create milestones to track progress, Frankel added. And check in regularly with staff members to share feedback.
“Everyone needs to feel that their unique talents are being used and further developed in a way that contributes to the organization’s priorities,” Frankel said.
3. Do you delegate? Delegation isn’t just about saving a manager’s time and improving operational efficiency. It is to prepare employees for promotion.
William Rothwell, a professor of workforce education and development at Penn State University, says, “Step-by-step assignments are a great tool for advancing people to higher levels of responsibility.” “And the best way to use them is to strategically transfer the functions of the manager.”
This method is especially important for employees who have expressed a desire to move forward. Rothwell suggests telling these people that the delegation process is meant to help them step into positions of greater responsibility.
Set achievable goals by delegating one or two items from the manager’s job description each year.
“Going slowly allows the employee time to train effective techniques to perform each task,” says Rothwell.
4. Do you challenge your employees to set reasonable performance goals? When employees take ownership of their future, they are motivated to do good work. Managers must ensure that their employees have buy-in to any mandated performance measures. That process starts with a clearly laid out road map.
“If we set expectations that are not clearly understood, the manager and the employee will be on different wavelengths,” says Randy Goruk, president of the Randall Wade Group in Scottsdale, Arizona. “The manager expects X and the worker thinks: ‘I’m going to do Y.’ The next thing you know, you have someone who doesn’t live up to your expectations.
Seek reassurance that the employee understands exactly what is expected of them, Goruk advises. One way to do this is to invite the person to repeat what you decided. It’s best to catch any disconnects six months down the road now.
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