When looking at the qualities of great managers it seems that great managers and great companies go hand-in-hand. If you can land a job in one of these organisations and work under an outstanding boss, chances are you’ll wake up each day feeling enthusiastic and get ahead in your career. Great organisations can really turn you into a better employee if you choose wisely and organisations who recruit managers and employees for their cultural fit just as much as skill. Many are talent spotted from the ranks, they’re then trained and equipped with the skills and qualities that enhance their natural management flair.
Those recruits go onto become great managers because the organisation helps develop a wide range of skills including these top five qualities:
Being an exceptional communicator:
Top managers get out of their offices and communicate with staff. As first-rate communicators they have top notch listening skills and encourage suggestions and complaints. Good communicators make their employees feel valued and their management effective.
Having excellent organisational skills:
A good manager is proactive, priorities and get things done. Working with such a manager makes an employee’s work life more fulfilling. An organised manager enables his or her employees to shine by preventing blockages and solving problems.
Leading by example:
Employees are more likely to grasp the mantle if they see their managers practice what they preach. Actions speak so much louder than words in the workplace.
Building teams that work:
The good manager builds healthy cooperative teams that work together to get things done, a good manager makes all it employees know where their contribution fits into the overall picture. By arming employees with the skills and knowledge they need and trusting that managers can delegate and the job gets done.
Having outstanding emotional intelligence:
Gone are the days when a manager would bark orders and expect “my way or the highway”. Managers employed and developed for their emotional intelligence have empathy, patience, resilience, positive thinking in spades and understand what makes their employees tick. The payback is increased loyalty.
Other tried and tested methods of finding the right boss/organisation for you include networking with current and former employees from that organisation and going to interviews armed with questions for your boss-to-be. Ask your interviewer:
To tell you about his or her background
What their management style is like?
What makes an effective employee in their department?
If you progress to a second interview, ask to meet with members of the team. Chances are they won’t spill the beans on an awful boss. But they’ll be enthusiastic about a great one. You can read between the lines of their answers.