In professional team sports, superstar players don’t always make the best coaches, and in fact, it’s rarely the case. Just because a sportsperson can perform a role within a team better than anyone else, doesn’t mean they have the leadership qualities to translate that ability when taking on the role of head coach and mentor. The same concept is true for business; an employee who is the best at a certain skill or set of competence won’t necessarily be the best manager of people.
Highly effective managers have a broad range of skills that enables them to create a strategic plan, articulate that plan and how the team is going to achieve set goals, and inspire them to perform at their best every step of the way. For some, these leadership qualities will come naturally while for others, it will take ongoing professional development and experience to hone their skills.
There are many weapons that a good manager will have in their armoury, and if you have ambitions to be the best manager you can be, there are three that stand out from the rest.
Passion
If you are passionate about the work you are doing and can share that passion with your staff, there’s a high chance they will be motivated to achieve organisational goals and business objectives. Your work needs to be important to you, and if you witness your staff performing their duties to a high standard, praise them for their efforts. It will demonstrate how highly you value the work they are doing, and increase staff morale right across the team.
The key to passion is meaningfulness. The more more meaningful some thing is the more passion it will inspire – seems obvious right? What’s less obvious is that meaning is an inside job. You are the creator and architect of the meaning you are making about the world, including your work. That means passion is down to you – not in a “fake it till you make it” kind of way, but rather, it’s down to the meaning and story you tell yourself about what you do. Is the story compelling? Does it connect with the meanings and values that are most important to you? Often passion is as simple as deciding what values you care about most, and putting your work in service to them.
Communication
You may be incredibly talented at creating strategic planning masterpieces, but if you can’t explain it to your staff or how they will achieve your desired outcomes, it’s worthless. The key to a highly efficient team is ensuring everyone fully understands the vision and is working towards a common goal. It is helpful to keep the lines of communication open, be receptive to feedback from your staff, talk to them daily, and deal with issues that arise in the workplace in a timely and impartial manner.
The key to effective communication, is realising that the way you want to communicate, is not necessarily the style that the listener responds best to, and is therefore most influenced by. Did you know that different personalities receive information in different ways? Knowing how your team think and orient themselves toward information will enable you to communicate with influence and engagement. Your ability to communicate with your staff is vital, and it’s a skill you can develop if you currently struggle with it.
Emotional Intelligence
Once you move into a management position, your responsibility is no longer about completing set tasks, it’s about managing people to ensure they complete their set tasks. While there are some exceptions to the rule where volatile managers have achieved extraordinary results, the best managers are cool and calm under pressure, and harness their emotional experience, rather than let it get the better of them. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is about understanding yourself and the people around you, and what motivates them to achieve individual goals. EQ enables you to keep your emotions under control while those around you might be letting their emotions take over. In times of adversity, you’ll be able to make rational decisions under enormous pressure while conveying a sense of calm confidence to your staff through your actions and body language.
How to attain the qualities to be an effective manager
The best managers are always learning new skills while honing those they already have. Professional athletes still receive coaching on a daily basis, even if they are the best in the world. There are always areas for improvement, no matter how good you are.
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is one such program that quickly and efficiently teaches you the three leadership qualities outlined above. NLP is a proven method to help you become the most efficient manager you can be, and has been used by thousands of people in Australia and overseas for over 30 years. You will experience cutting edge techniques that will enable you to manage your staff successfully, and achieve set business goals and objectives faster and more efficiently.
For those wishing to be the best manager they can be, check out this NLP Certification Program, or this page on NLP to learn and explore more. Each course is designed to help you find meaning and direction in your work, enabling you to grow and develop every day.
