4 Key Traits of a Good Manager

What makes a good manager? What are the traits or habits which shape his success? Many people have argued and still argue about this debatable issue. Some believe that a manager should posses a charismatic personality to inspire; others believe that he/she should be affirmative in taking actions and achieving objectives. The list goes on and on. Below we will be listing 4 key traits of a good manager we believe to be key for success.

Trait #1: Self awareness

Considered to be one of the most important traits in a good manager, self-awareness focuses on discovering your inner self. Self awareness creates an emotionally stable personality since you have dug deep into yourself and you know what your personality is really like. Put it simple, if what we are aware of empowers us, what we are unaware of controls us. Self awareness can help in making the right decisions, dealing with problems, and building good relations with employees. It also helps us in having the courage to face our problems without having to deny or activate a defensive mechanism when we are subjected to criticism.

Trait#2: Empathy

Many people mix up between sympathy and empathy. By definition, sympathy is to feel sorry or pity for someone or a group. For example, people sympathize at the loss of children due to famine in Africa. On the other hand, empathy in the world of business is caring about people (employees). Managers who show empathy towards their subordinates tend to understand what their employees are facing. It is very easy for a manager to blame others for failure, but not the good type of managers. Empathetic managers possess high level listening skills, since they try to understand the employee’s input about situations.

Trait#3: The Platinum Rule

Everyone knows the simple golden rule in the world of business and even in our daily life (if you don’t .. here it goes) “Treat people the way you like them to treat you”. Derived from ancient religious quotes and philosophies, this rule was meant to establish a positive respectful behavior between humans. The world of business took this rule and applied it in all domains especially in public and customer service domain. This rule has proved to be very efficient and effective and gave very successful results; however a new rule has evolved from this one and is replacing the golden rule. The platinum rule! “Treat others the way they want to be treated”. This rule focuses more on what people want and how do they want to be treated. By applying it you are providing ultimate satisfaction to your customer or employees. Treating employees the way they like to be treated will definitely create a positive, productive, and mutual respect between the employees and managers.

Trait#4: Diplomatic Criticism

Have you ever thought of writing a warning or a criticizing letter, and reading it carefully before sending it? Many managers tend to justify criticizing or warning letters as a final solution or “it was the only way” solution. True, to some extent, but a good manager should always review his/her warning letter before sending it. Have you included some positive statements about the person criticized, have you wrote your letter when you were feeling angry and aggravated regarding the person criticized, where you objective and fair in your critic? And finally did you criticize artfully and stayed positive? These are some important questions a manager asks himself before criticizing the deed of an employee rather the employee himself. It is important to note that negative criticism can lead to destructive consequences rather than constructive results.

These are some highlighted points which we believe to shape up a good manager. What others do you have? Share with us your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Photo Credit By RRZEicons (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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