What the World’s Best Managers Believe?

What makes the difference between the best managers and the rest?

Those who know me know I’m a huge fan of the Gallup research into this topic, explained in detail in their excellent book; “First Break all the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers do Differently”.

What’s most interesting, but not surprising to me, is that the world’s best managers, according to Gallup, think differently to those less successful managers. They have what is often an instinctual understanding of human behaviour as well as a sharp business focus. The profound relationship between thought and results fascinates me as a psychologist. Our thoughts  govern our actions – which in turn helps determine our results – so it most certainly makes sense to understand what these great managers are thinking so we can tweak our own approach to improve our own results.

I recently read an interesting article by Steve Tobak , (managing partner of Invisor Consulting and regular contributor to BNET, the interactive business network), which also examined the thinking behind the best managers.  He cites 10 key things he thinks good managers believe as:

1. My overriding priority is to help my company achieve its strategic and operating goals by facilitating the efficient flow of business and decision-making.
2. It’s my job to behave like a mature adult by being genuine and empathetic with my own and other’s issues, especially when everyone else is acting out like spoiled children.
3. If I don’t work my tail off and be hands-on when necessary, I can’t expect anybody else to do it either.
4. It’s challenging but nevertheless critical to provide genuine feedback, both positive and negative, to my employees, peers, and management, and request the same from them.
5. Compromising my ethical principles in the name of “the ends justify the means,” or for any other reason, is unacceptable.
6. It’s my job to promote my team’s accomplishments and take the heat for their failures.
7. I need to provide my employees with the tools, training, and support they need to be effective, instead of setting unachievable goals and setting them up for failure.
8. I shouldn’t just “promote” a can-do, customer service attitude, but actually “walk the talk” when it comes to supporting customers and stakeholders.
9. It’s important to entrust my employees with as much responsibility as their capabilities will allow, and to hold them accountable for the same.
10. I need to strike a balance between shielding my folks from the ripples of dysfunctional management and openly communicating events that may affect them.

There are 2 things I particularly like about his list:

1. Managing others is not simply about treating people with respect, showing empathy and giving encouragement. It’s about challenging, having high expectations of staff and believing in their ability.
2. That there should be a strong sense of ethics and integrity – of “walking the talk”, and of setting the example through our own behaviours. It should never be one rule for us – and another for everyone else.

But most importantly – do you know what I think sums it up?

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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:

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