The key to improving performance within your company is effective management. By providing employees with excellent managers, you can ensure that they will have a good example to follow when it comes to their own work. However, it is important that managers possess certain characteristics in order for them to be truly effective. Here are the five traits that are absolutely essential when it comes to your being a successful manager.
1. The Ability to Self-Motivate
Managers are responsible for motivating their employees, which means that they themselves must possess the ability to self-motivate. Self-motivation means that you are not only able to get yourself going on the project at hand, but that you are also able to work independently to take on each next step towards completion. As a manager, it is necessary that you are able to self-motivate because you will need to imbue this characteristic in the employees whom you are managing.
2. Effective Communication Skills
Another critical trait that managers must possess is effective communication skills. In large part, the main job of a manager is communication. Good managers are able to communicate with their employees in a way that is clear and conducive to a positive working relationship. Furthermore, good managers excel at both verbal and non-verbal communication. A good manager leads by example in order to communicate such behavior to employees.
3. Confidence Without Arrogance
As a manager, it is important for you to be confident. Having confidence shows your employees that you believe in your own abilities, which will increase their respect for you. Unfortunately, such confidence is all too often mistaken for arrogance. If your employees believe that you are arrogant, they will lose respect for you rather than gaining it. To prevent this, imbue your confidence with personality to make yourself likeable to your employees.
4. Willingness to Share
One ineffective management strategy is withholding information from your employees. Instead, effective managers share as much information as possible with their employees, creating an environment of collective intelligence. This creates trust between management and employees, leading to a more effective relationship. Remember to never isolate yourself from those you are managing, as this will lessen trust in the relationship.
5. Prowess in Problem Solving
Finally, a great manager is able to problem solve. Problem solving is one of the key components of a management position, whether you are working out a conflict between employees or solving a crisis with a client. In addition to being able to solve problems, a good manager takes responsibility for problems that arise.
