Good managers can manage anything
Some managers have a reputation as having the golden touch. No matter what they do, their teams seem to excel, performance improves, success follows. The reason for such success is often misunderstood. Usually, it’s attributed to the manager’s ability to organise people, institute processes, and adapt as new information becomes available. There’s little doubt that these skills matter. But the other, less discussed part of a successful manager’s behaviour is that they hire and nurture the right people and move out those who don’t perform. No amount of guiding, organising or process improvement is going to make a team with the wrong people in the wrong roles perform well. Good managers know this and do the hard work of getting the people part right.
It’s all about meeting goals and hitting targets.
If you only measure the numbers you may win in the short term but you could jeopardise your long term goals and suffer the consequences of high turnover. Employee satisfaction, personal development and engagement, improve performance in the long term and make for a more agile and resilient workforce .
The most accurate predictor of success is experience.
When it comes to appointing managers experience is every thing. Yes and no. An individual can have ten years experience or one years experience times ten. Did they expose themselves to new experiences after the first year or did they stay in their comfort zone? What did they learn from their experiences that will help them in the post they have applied for?
The smartest person in the room should be the manager
In my experience the best managers don’t know more than everyone else, they are not necessarily the best problem solvers or the most creative nor are they the quickest to pick up new skills but what they are is very good at getting the best out of other people. They know just how to encourage, support and challenge different individuals in their team to get the best results. They can also apply those skills people skills to people they work with out side of their team such as tapping into the specialist skills and knowledge of finance or HR.
The best managers know what to do in any given situation
The more experience an individual is the greater the chances they have come across this problem or something similar before. This will certainly make them more confident but knowing what to do isn’t the same as being able to do it. There are plenty of experienced and knowledge managers who have achieved the highest level of success in one organisation but not been able to repeat it elsewhere.
Blair Mcpherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
