A Good Manager

Being a manager is one thing; being a good one is critical.

In previous management posts, I touched topics such as a good process, a good cofounder, and even mentioned a good manager. It’s time to take a deeper dive into what a good manager is all about.

A manager’s responsibility is to get the job done.

Anyone can dispatch tasks to their employees. But that doesn’t make one a good manager, and it’s certainly not the essence of management. This is why the art of being a good manager is so elusive.

What Is a Manager, Anyway?

Let’s try refining the manager’s purview further: To do everything within one’s ability to get a high-quality product delivered on time, within a reasonable budget. Better, but not the whole story.

Without trivializing or ignoring that the end goal of management is the manager’s output, we still need to go a bit deeper to get to the core of the issue. Let’s turn to Andy Grove, the legendary CEO of Intel in the 1990s. His book, High Output Management, is the bible of modern management and a must-read for all managers at all levels. To summarize his message: The key standard by which a manager must be judged is not their output per se, but the results achieved by the group under their supervision or influence (the latter if the manager is not under the group’s direct supervision, e.g., a product manager).

The importance of a manager cannot be underestimated: they make or break an excellent team as well as everything they touch. Even the output of a team of mediocre employees can be amplified exponentially by a good manager. In other words, a good manager is the team’s coefficient of expanding its ability. Here’s the equation: manager’s skill x aggregate employees’ throughput = team output.

Granted, there are different levels of managers in an organization, from CEO down to the lowest manager in the hierarchy, and each has different responsibilities. Each level requires different behavior and actions, but the basics are the same. It sounds counterintuitive, but a team leader has a harder job managing their people day-to-day than a CEO does; although a C-level manager’s problems are larger and there’s more at stake, their team is more mature and independent than that of a lower-level manager.

Apart from building the product, one of the main goals of a manager must be building trust with their own employees and the rest of the environment they execute in. The higher the trust, the better the whole team’s results will be. Some stupid managers use fear instead of trust. Anyway, taking responsibility is also of primary importance; eventually, either you give it, or you take it. But the biggest undervalued issue in organizations is demanding accountability, and often even experienced managers fall short of this supremely vital quality.

What do you prefer within your own organization: managers who shy away from challenges and have no follow-through, or those who take responsibility and are able to come up with solutions and admit they were wrong at times?

How to Be Good Manager

I’ve come up with a list of what I think are the most important behaviors and attitudes of a good manager. Remember: It’s not about making an excellent roadmap or prioritizing tasks; I take it for granted you already know how to do those. Here, I will explain the behaviors and give concrete examples and guidelines.

1. Realize it’s not about you. Or your ego, for that matter. Concentrate on team effort and the product. Realize you’re part of something bigger (your organization). As a manager, you call the shots, but sometimes someone else will come up with a better idea. Since it will ultimately be your call, be open and listen to others before you make the (right) decision. I truly believe this habit has pushed me forward the most in my career. Unfortunately, many managers have too much ego and pick their own solution for a given problem, even when they know it’s not the best one.

The best managers I know are confident, which enables them to root for the organization’s success and bring real value to the company.

2. Allow for mistakes. Don’t bash your employees for making mistakes. On the contrary, show them you’re reasonable and add some leeway to make mistakes into the equation. Of course, too many mistakes indicate a bad employee, but otherwise we all make them; no big deal. When you make a mistake (and you will), be sure to admit it openly and fix the issue. This sends an important message to your team, and once they get it, you can all move faster. Even though you’re the boss, you need them as much as they need you.

3. Focus. Practically, this one matters the most. Focus your team. Employees tend to do what’s fun and/or easy. They can get lost in inconsequential issues and waste time (un)intentionally. Learn to say no to irrelevant stuff; you don’t have to satisfy their every desire. You must prioritize what you know to be important, and juggle between those tasks. Raise flags for delays, but at the same time don’t burn your team out (see below). You’re going to have to let some tasks fall to the wayside, and it’s going to hurt – but you must hit those sacred deadlines. Don’t feel bad dropping some tasks when needed; in fact, feel bad if you don’t.

4. Delegate. Walk your employees through their assigned tasks, and then empower them by giving them the strength and courage to execute independently under your supervision. This takes practice on both sides, and I wish I would have done it more myself in my early years as a manager. Push each individual to maximize their abilities and skills.

Note that the opposite of delegation is centralization and it forces everybody working with you to be blocked on you, learn to let go (note to self: always a bit more than what you think you should) and the team will move faster.

Here’s my rule of thumb: If someone else can do it 80 percent as well as you can – not to mention better – then delegate the effing task. You’re there to set the standard and teach them, to show them the right path, to focus them. If you can’t let go of the belief that you can do it better, you’re going to be miserable, and your team won’t learn a thing from you; what a shame that would be for both sides.

Be decent and sincerely appreciate your team’s work. Let them know it publicly. Keeping your appreciation secret – or worse, being unable to find anything to compliment – will have impact on your employees and distance them from you. If you really can’t find anything to appreciate because you think you can do it better, then think about how much time they save you to perform your managerial duties and work on other matters.

Likewise, accept the knowledge gap between you and your team, and understand that it will continue to grow. As a manager, you will always know less technical stuff than your employees, and that’s perfectly okay. Your job is to steer the boat but not to row it yourself – unless there’s a crisis, so make sure you stay at least somewhat fit.

5. Manage risk intelligently. Do not confuse this with “Allow for mistakes.” There are always risks lurking around, some that you should know about now and some that will surprise you along the way. Try to map all risks you can think of, and learn how to avoid them, if possible. Make sure you have designed a plan to mitigate them.

Risk management and prioritization are a big part of successful roadmap execution. Without them, you are likely to become a firefighter type of a manager, extinguishing crises all the time instead of actually controlling the fires before they even start.

6. Deal correctly with complaints and problems. As a manager, you’re your team’s complaints department. It’s up to you to actually do something about the work issues they raise or take it to someone else. Never, ever ignore employee issues, or say you’ll do something and not follow through, because you’ll lose points with your team and their trust in you will deteriorate fast.

Too often, and very unfortunately, I see managers burying their head in the sand. This is a huge sign of poor management and a sure example of how entire organizations begin to sink.

7. Communicate effectively. Communicate the messages and goals of the organization as frequently as you can. Over-communication can never hurt, especially when everybody works remotely. Sometimes messages are not understood the way we, the managers, intended. It might be necessary from time to time to do a “mirror check” on what they understood from you.

Transparency is imperative; it’s key for leadership. You must be transparent to the point that if you and the team are called to do a task that’s illogical and time-wasting, you back up your own bosses as well as the system, while at the same time you remain genuine to your employees and acknowledge the stupidity of the task as well as their lack of desire to perform it. It’s okay to tell your team that you were tasked to do something even though you don’t agree with it. Because if you don’t do this, your trust with your employees will begin to break.

As a manager, you know the company’s bigger picture, but your team does not have access to the same information. Uncertainty rules their world, so try to share as much as possible with your team, both the good and the bad.

8. Maintain high standards. I believe that a good manager should keep high standards and demand it from the team. Set a good example by complying with and following the company’s culture, values, and processes. Keep these three pillars in order on your own team as well, as generally they are held sacred by the organization.

Fire bad employees for lack of professionalism, and also those who act like dicks (even if they’re good! Yes, that’s a tough call for a manager). Otherwise, culture will quickly disintegrate.

Don’t ask your employees to do non-task-related stuff you can’t or wouldn’t do yourself. For example, don’t ask them to work extra hours if you’re not willing to stay at the office (unless you have a good reason and they are okay with it).

I’ve always treated my employees the best way I know how, exactly as I would want my imaginary manager to treat me. Give them more of yourself, and don’t be afraid to demand their all. Make them aware that you’re all in the same boat.

9. Treat your team as a family. Take care of your employees like you’re all one big family. Even if sometimes it feels like a kindergarten and you’re the teacher and there are inter-team tensions or problems, help them sort matters out. Don’t say, “Figure it out yourself”; if they’ve come to you, things have escalated to the point where they need assistance. So please act, or they’ll keep fighting. Try to settle the issue even if someone gets hurt. If you do it with transparency and integrity, they’ll be able to stomach your decision and even honor it.

10. Take care of your own wellbeing. Don’t work too much. (Since you asked, no more than ten hours a day, unless you have good reason to make an exception. If your normal is high gear, you’re doing it wrong, dude.) If you get burned out, you take your whole team down with you. Work never ends, so you have to end it yourself.

Since there are so many forces to contend with, as well as tension, in the daily life of a manager and their employees, you must make your team aware of the signs of anxiety and stress – and look out for them yourself. It’s imperative that people learn to take regular vacations. Day-to-day, people should consider meditation, or find alternative ways to release tension in order to keep healthy in the long run. Exercise, eat well, sleep well. I made a habit of not working on weekends, ever, unless it’s an emergency.

11. Give feedback. Never shy away from giving feedback to your employees, especially if they ask for it. Performance reviews are critical for their personal growth, to say nothing of the success of the company. Once you and your team establish mutual trust, they’ll appreciate honest feedback. People naturally test their boundaries in relationships – especially that of employee–manager – not because they’re cruel but because that’s what all human beings do. Don’t be afraid to confront a member of your team when they screw up. If you shy away, it will hurt your own performance (remember how Andy Grove defined it?).

Be open to receiving feedback yourself; it’s a two-way street. It doesn’t matter whether it’s directed at you personally, at your management style, or at your product. Most important is that your employees will see that you listen to them. After you receive feedback, try to come up with solutions or explain your perspective. The team will learn that not everything is black and white, and there are often things they’re not aware of.

Final Words

Now that we’ve gone over the most important aspects of a good manager, it’s suddenly funny to realize that having a plan, allocating resources, and delegating tasks – which are the foundation of management – are the easiest part of?a manager’s purview, but nevertheless not trivial.

A very long time ago, I thought of a manager as someone who manages only the people under them. But today I know better. Management (a loose type of it) goes in other directions too. Take a look:

Managers are in the middle of the organization. Just as in physics, every element in the organization has, what is called a normal force, exerting inversely on the manager. Therefore, the manager’s job is to balance them all successfully – quite a feat. No wonder being a good manager is a tough job.

As in every profession out there, doing the work of the trade (e.g., a chef cooking or a developer writing code) is only one, albeit significant, part of the job – perhaps even the most rewarding one. But it’s not necessarily the most important. A job is more than a profession, and being a manager is more than just managing people and tasks.

I wish I’d had all this knowledge when I started my management career a decade ago. But for all of us, there’s always room for growth and learning new things. Unfortunately, junior employees who get promoted to first-time team leads are not taught how to become (better) managers.

Being a good manager is hard because it requires working with a lot of people - human beings with their own wants and needs. Right?! Good communications are key for relationships with your employees and colleagues. And it takes a lot of energy keeping everybody aligned and motivated too.

Naturally, we just want to keep doing more tasks we are better at or feel better about, but management requires many types of tasks to be done. That’s the price to pay for the potential impact and success, and it all begins with our commitment. The good managers are the ones to lead the organization wisely and boldly. Don’t you want to be one?

If you read this far: great success!