Let’s get the elephant in the room out into the open straight away – not everyone, no matter how technically skilled they are, make good Managers. And guess what? That’s okay. Not everyone will be the best technically in their office either. Different skill sets come attached to different people.
For those that want to achieve that promotion into Management however, there are a subset of skills that tend to be assessed and looked at across the board.
So what are they?
Management is first and foremost about people – so when your boss is considering whether you have management potential, the first thing they will look at is “are you good with people?”.
Seems like a basic question, but it needs to be viewed in the light of how you interact with the people around you within the workplace. You might be the highlight of every office party, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you would make a good manager.
What traits could make you a good manager however include:
- Emotional Intelligence – do you notice potential issues or emotions your co-workers may be having that are limiting their potential? Are you aware of what the people around you are feeling?
- Problem Resolution – are you able to resolve or help resolve these problems?
- Honesty – are you able to be honest with the people around you, even when you know they won’t want to hear what you need to say?
- Encouragement – do you build up the people around you and make them feel confident in their work?
- Drive – do you want to help the people around you to be better in their jobs / perhaps making them better than even yourself? The concept of placing yourself in a position of being “needed, but not necessary”.
- Feedback – are you capable of delivering constructive feedback without being negative or overly critical?
- Accountability – are you able to recognise your own shortcomings, problems or mistakes and take responsibility for them? Are you accountable for your team?
- Coaching – can you deliver training in an effective way?
- Organised – are you organised, efficient and capable of delegating tasks appropriately?
- On Task – can you stay on task and keep your employees / fellow team members on task?
- Decisive – are you able to make tough decisions (including when to fire an employee) when necessary?
Finally, one of the biggest areas of the “are they good with people?” question is “are they likeable?”, “do people WANT to work for them?”.
It is true that there are Managers that get good results from their staff without necessarily being well liked by them, but with best Managers draw people towards themselves. They are confident, supportive and charismatic. They not only bring out the best in people, but they make people want to bring out the best in themselves.