What Makes a GREAT Manager? (it’s not what you think)

apparently there's a question we can ask
ourselves to see whether we would make
good people managers in the workplace
and that is do you get more satisfaction
out of the outcome being achieved or in
playing a particular role in getting to
that outcome to illustrate imagine
you're in the sales team you love
chatting with clients and closing deals
you enjoy being in the role of a
salesperson and because you're so good
you're promoted to a manager a week
later there's a problem with an internal
process sales people are fighting over
clients and travel expenses are not
being reimbursed as a manager you put
down the phone and spend the next month
fixing those processes because that
leads to a better outcome for your team
so is that it there's a special group of
people in this world who are just
magically able to prioritize the outcome
and are destined to become great
managers Julie draw xvp on Facebook says
no she became a manager at the age of 25
and based on her own experiences and by
observing other highly rated managers
she concludes that great managers are
made not born and in the making of a
manager she shares the three Universal
ladies our great managers possess and
more importantly what they did to get
there let's get started quality number
one great managers build trust trust
means different things for different
people but if you think about it there
are three things we all do when we trust
our boss we share problems and
challenges we're facing we're not afraid
to give them critical feedback and given
the chance we would happily work for
them again so what are the things great
managers do to encourage this behavior
and build trust first they're not afraid
to show vulnerability Professor brene
Brown is an expert in the study of
emotions and has famously said
vulnerability sounds like truth and
feels like courage I remember this one
time I asked my manager how to
communicate in a nicer way with my
colleagues while still being as direct
as possible and she told me Jeff I'm
still working on this myself but here's
what I learned so far her not pretending
to know everything made me respect her
more and I definitely didn't think oh my
God I can't believe she didn't know the
answer to this second they give specific
recognition advice and feedback act
emphasis on the word specific just
imagine after a presentation your
manager says great job I think it went
really well compare this to great job
keeping us all engaged with that
interactive pull and I think the
marketing team really appreciated the
call out on slide 7. those extra few
words show a manager paid attention and
recognize the parts of the presentation
we made the additional effort to get
right third they prepare for our 101s
Julie's premise here is simple managers
are very busy people and if they show up
to our one-on-ones fully prepared it
means they prioritized us above other
work interestingly fully prepared does
not mean our managers came with all the
answers but rather relevant questions
that help us decide on next steps
broadly speaking these questions can be
broken down to three categories identify
understand and support and managers
should draw from this list of questions
depending on the situation I also have
an entire video on how to run productive
101s with your manager so check that out
after by the way this video is not being
sponsored by Julie although that would
be cool but it is supported by those of
you who subscribe to my paid
productivity newsletter Link in the
description to learn more quality number
two great managers give great feedback I
always thought feedback meant
suggestions for improvement and although
that's certainly part of it Julie says
great feedback inspires us to change our
behavior and there are three things
great managers do when giving feedback
first they set clear expectations at the
very beginning and the tip here is for
the manager to share ideal outcomes
according to a timeline when I first
joined the marketing team my manager
Greg said in the first three months on
the job I expect you'll take ownership
of this spreadsheet and help me plan
this offline event in six months
hopefully you'll be running the weekly
status meetings without me it was clear
what I needed to do and more importantly
I knew how my success would be measured
in six months if the weekly meetings
went smoothly without Greg in the room I
would have succeeded second they make
their feedback as specific as possible
to drive action instead of saying Jeff
your presentation was complicated and we
got lost where the word complicated is
ambiguous it's better to say you lost
the room when you shared seven different
designs for the review it would be great
to let us vote on three options next
time the feedback is crystal clear and
it also States specific next steps I can
take to improve Pro tip Julie says every
time a manager sees their report in
action is an opportunity for feedback a
short note of Praise or constructive
criticism is most effective when the
memory is still fresh third they collect
360 degree feedback for maximum
objectivity according to Ed Batista of
Stanford University our fight or flight
Instinct kicks in when we receive
critical feedback and that hurts our
ability to process what we just heard
and react thoughtfully when managers
combine their own observations with
feedback from our colleagues we feel
less threatened because a 360 degree
view is more objective and comprehensive
Pro tip if your manager gives you
feedback you don't necessarily agree
with ask them to verify with their
teammates actually let me know in the
comments if this is something you wish
your manager would do more of quality
number three and my personal favorite
great managers run amazing meetings
according to Julie every meeting needs
to have a clear outcome and there are
only five outcomes that warrant a
meeting first when a decision needs to
be made the approach up here is the
decision maker needs to be in the room
and the people affected by the decision
needs to feel that the process was fair
second when information needs to be
shared only invite the minimum amount of
people necessary and it's the speaker's
job to keep the audience engaged and
entertained third when feedback needs to
be given on a project or plan the
presentation should include changes
since the last check-in problems the
reviewer can immediately give input on
and end with specific next steps fourth
when ideas need to be generated it's
actually been proven that people are
most creative when they're alone so the
key here is to prompt attendees to
brainstorm before the meeting and use
the meeting time to discuss which ideas
can be turned into action and fifth when
relationships need to be strengthened
the more we learn about our colleagues
Hobbies life stories and interests the
more we enjoy working with them so Julie
argues social events are just as
important as formal business meetings in
total Julie actually covers eight
qualities all great managers have but I
thought these three build trust uh great
feedback amazing meetings were the most
relevant for the majority of us I'll
quickly touch on each remaining aspect
in the next seconds even great managers
struggle with imposter syndrome and a
practical tip is to search for the name
of your role model struggles on Google
to see how someone you look up to deal
with uncertainty and failure they
understand the importance of hiring well
and a candidate with mixed reviews but
vocal supporters usually outperform
those with consistently average ratings
they know perfect execution is more
important than perfect strategy so once
you pick a reasonable Direction move
quickly to learn what works and what
doesn't and make adjustments on the go
they're able to dedicate effectively by
reminding reports of the purpose not of
the task I love this quote by Antoine
ding Saint exude Perry that goes if you
want to build a ship Don't drum up the
men to gather wood instead teach them to
yearn for the vast and Endless Sea and
finally they walk the walk the quickest
way for managers to lose respect and
Authority is when they say one thing and
do another if you're working
professional you might enjoy my
collaboration with the Harvard Business
review on email etiquette in the
workplace see you on the next video in
the meantime time
have a great one