Being a manager isn’t just about sitting in a nice office with the latest equipment. Not every manager is a good leader. You can tell and explain to your subordinates what to do and how to spend their workday in the office, but that just means that you’re their boss.
Almost everyone has had a “horrible boss” in their life. The boss was so “awful” that you couldn’t enjoy your work, and you didn’t even risk showing your face to him. Unfortunately, such bosses aren’t uncommon these days.
A leader is good at managing people and knows how to use the strengths of his or her team for the benefit of the business or project. If you want to be a good leader, you will have to learn certain skills as a subordinate in order to successfully manage a team. Yes, you don’t have to wait for a promotion to learn how to manage people.
However, besides that, you also need to know what bad qualities you need to get rid of in order to become a good leader or manager.
Stop over-controlling your subordinates
Good managers and leaders know how to motivate people and create a favorable working environment.
Bad managers and leaders focus on assigning as many tasks as possible to their subordinates, sometimes without even explaining the result of its completion. Surely many of the employees still don’t understand why they fill out this or that report.
A bad leader who constantly checks the work of employees to make sure that it’s being done properly. Thus it demotivates the staff and worsens the quality of their work.
Progressive companies have long recognized the autonomy of the employee, gave the staff the freedom to choose how to perform tasks. In this way, the probability of stressful situations between management and employees is reduced.
Don’t be hesitant
Bad leaders often don’t know how to make decisions. This is due to fear of taking responsibility for results. After all, if the decision turns out to be wrong, it will have an unpleasant effect on the manager’s career and reputation.
Therefore, before finally passing a verdict, it’s necessary to analyze the situation more thoroughly, to understand what decision will really bring the company success. A good manager isn’t afraid to fail and try something new.
There’s no need to find excuses for their failures. Such a leader looks for opportunities to shove the blame onto someone else instead of taking responsibility. He will constantly blame his employees for his own bad decisions.
A good leader, on the contrary, learns from his mistakes, and in the future will do everything to ensure that neither he nor his employees will make these mistakes again.
Also, don’t make decisions without any logical reasoning or analysis, relying only on your mood or intuition. Such a leader tends to be driven by emotion.
A good leader weighs the pros and cons, using an extensive body of knowledge and information. It’s a less risky route that guarantees a higher probability of success. Especially in the age of the Internet, it’s not so difficult to find arguments in favor of this or that assumption.
Don’t be stubborn and conservative
A stubborn manager always thinks he’s right and doesn’t want to hear the other person’s opinion. He will show disdain for a potentially better idea or may appropriate the idea for himself altogether.
Stubborn managers can break the spirit of the department and be detrimental to the growth of the company. While a good leader is always open and humble. He understands perfectly well that everyone in the office is equal and any employee can present a great idea.
Conservative managers usually don’t like changing certain processes within the company. People, in general, don’t like to do things that will require them to change, that’s how the human brain works. However, managers who resist change expose the company to stagnation.
Business development requires the boss to constantly invent new concepts that would improve employee performance or increase customer loyalty.
What is the leader supposed to be like
Getting a managerial position doesn’t simply mean taking a certain step on the career ladder and performing specific tasks. It’s important to understand that a supervisor must possess a wide range of personal qualities. These include those that help build relationships with the team, negotiate, grasp the essence of the information received, etc.
These qualities include:
- Stress resistance.
- An unflappable manager and leader is the best example for the whole team. Emotional stability makes it possible to perform tasks and look for solutions in possible abnormal situations. In today’s world, a manager needs to be somewhat cold-blooded because excessive emotions can do a lot of harm not only to a certain department but also to the organization as a whole.
- Determination.
- To effectively manage a team, you must be clear about the tasks at hand and demand that they be accomplished. You mustn’t be afraid to take unconventional decisions and change the strategy to achieve the goals. This is due to the fact that nowadays there are constant changes. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to make decisions quickly and independently.
- Purposefulness.
- Every manager should have certain goals to which he’s going. This encourages him to develop as a person and a professional. A leader without goals won’t be able to lead a team to new heights.
- To be with the team until the end.
- A good leader doesn’t abandon his team, even if the whole world is against it. He’s sure that his duty is to be at one with it, to stand up for everyone and pull everyone out of the bottom. Because only such a team, can achieve superhighs. The team feels when the leader is with it, and gives thanks with 100% commitment.
You should also always remember not to instill fear in your subordinates. This will definitely not earn you any respect. You can be a good leader if you treat all employees equally and don’t let your emotions get in the way of reason.
