If You Want To Be a Great Manager, Don’t Do These 3 Things
Too many people are in managerial positions who shouldn’t be.
What starts as a new job opportunity for some quickly turns sour. Each job comes with its own annoying tasks and idiosyncrasies, but having a bad manager can make it miserable.
Managers set the tone for the workplace. They can guide their team to success or run it into the ground. Here are three key things great managers don’t do.
#1. Don’t be egotistical
Mastery passes often for egotism. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Ego is your sense of self-esteem and self-importance. Healthy self-esteem is important as a manager, but you could easily become absorbed by the power at your status.
A manager with a larger-than-life ego doesn’t make for pleasant interactions, much less a great leader. The higher up the title, the worse it can yet. Egotistical managers can think they’re inherently better than their colleagues, even if their competence is not extraordinary.
A bad manager uses their title to impose their will, just because “they say so.” This necessarily authoritative relationship devalues your employees. Some managers might go as far as manipulating their employees to make sure things are done their way and their way only.
For instance, a manager might deny an employee the option to telework without room for negotiation. This type of quality shuts off the manager from the rest of their team, putting themselves on a false pedestal that no one else can see.
The best managers keep their egos in check. They recognize the value they bring and take criticism of their management practices in stride.
#2. Don’t hold back your employees
In the movie The Intern, Becky is the overwhelmed, freshly graduated assistant to a company’s ambitious yet scatterbrained CEO (played by Anne Hathaway).
This is Becky’s first job, but her qualifications don’t match up to her tasks. Each day, she’s taking down messages, rebooking appointments, and fetching…
