What does it mean to be a “good” manager?

Is it using your charisma to get people to follow you?

Is it about having an overpowering personality that gets things done??

Or?

Is it all about being empathetic?

When you take a moment to look back at your previous jobs and the people you worked for,?you can likely to pick out at least one or two who weren’t the best at managing a team.

What do you remember about them? Were they difficult to talk to? Did it seem like they were always in a bad mood?

In an era where people are obsessed with efficiency but are also advocates of employee-friendly practices, it’s critical for every manager to have the necessary skill sets and the perfect personality— the complete package.

In one of my??past company, we had a small team that worked remotely. We got together a few times a month, but otherwise relied on email and calls to stay on the same page.This was great to allow everyone to be efficient and focused on their work.

Unfortunately, it also created management blind spots.

Over time, another leader and I noticed one of our best team members seemed to be disengaging. They didn’t bring the same enthusiasm and extra touch to their work we previously saw.

In a one on one with their manager, we discussed their recent work.?Did we need to let them go? What happened?

Neither of us knew the answer.

A lack of real communication

As we continued speaking we realized both of us had failed to check in with her. It had actually been?months?since either of us last checked in with her.

Realizing their drop in quality of work might just be our fault, I took responsibility.?I reached out to them and immediately scheduled a 1 on 1. I’m very glad I did.

I started the 1 on 1 by apologizing that we hadn’t been checking in with them.?Then we started talking about how they were doing.

It was then I discovered that their interests had shifted and they wanted to make some small changes to their role. They also had different long term goals now, so what we thought was great tasks that furthered those goals, were actually wrong.

What’s most amazing to me in retrospect is how quickly things turned around.?After just two 1 on 1s where I listened and made some small changes, they started showing their past enthusiasm and quality work.

On a positive note:

From that point forward, I’ve always kept in mind that you can’t take any of your good people for granted. You have to make time to check in on them, and assume if there’s a problem it could just as much be you causing it as anything wrong with them.

And all it took was making time to listen and take action on what I heard.

The best managers know how to strategically incorporate the strengths of each team member to build a successful organization.?

Therefore, the right qualities of a manager can make all the difference. To be able to listen, not hear, and communicate, not order, is what any employee would find valuable in a leader. If a manager is able to establish trust with his or her team, employee retention, productivity, and engagement can increase as a result.

With that in mind,?you need to develop a cocktail of qualities, ranging from identifying hidden potential to being more understanding toward your employees.

In the end, remember not to hog all of the credit. Share the glory with the entire team instead. You won’t regret it.