10 qualities of effective business leaders

By |  February 21, 2023
Corporate Coaching International’s Lois Frankel says good managers create milestones to monitor progress while regularly checking in with staff members to share feedback. Photo: Martin Barraud/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

Corporate Coaching International’s Lois Frankel says good managers create milestones to monitor progress while regularly checking in with staff members to share feedback. Photo: Martin Barraud/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

Great management skills are more important than ever in today’s tight labor market.

Businesses large and small need to take steps to retain top-performing people and attract new ones. Dealing effectively with employees can do just that.

Management mastery, however, is not a one-and-done affair. Effective leaders continuously assess their workplace performance and seek ways to improve.

How good are you as a manager? In this article, business experts specify 10 indicators of effective leadership. Read what they have to say, then assess your own managerial skills by taking the accompanying quiz on page 3.

The indicators

1. Do you listen well? Effective listening is a core competency that underlies other management skills.

“When speaking with employees, managers need to hear both the words and the music,” says Johanna Rothman, founder of Rothman Consulting Group in Arlington, Massachusetts. “That means understanding not just what the person is saying, but also the subtext.”

Rothman gives an example.

“Suppose a manager asks Jane: ‘Is everyone on your team working well together?’ And she responds with a lackluster: ‘It’s okay.’ That, to me, is a big red flag and an early warning signal of bigger problems,” Rothman says.

On the surface, Rothman says the word “okay” is positive. The subtext, though, is that Jane’s team has dysfunctional elements that need to be addressed. Doing so will require follow-up questions that encourage Jane to speak out. A simple “tell me more about the situation” may do the trick.

2. Do you communicate company priorities clearly? Shared goals energize a business.

“Everyone’s priority should be the same as the company’s top executive,” says Lois Frankel, president of Corporate Coaching International in Pasadena, California. “When you talk about your company’s big picture, where it’s going and how the employees can help it get there, that’s real leadership.”

Inspired by the knowledge of the company’s motivating mission, employees will develop their own creative techniques for boosting performance.

“People will not be managed,” Frankel says. “They will only be led. Too often, managers communicate how to do what needs to get done instead of letting people do it the way they want.”

Good managers also create milestones to monitor progress, Frankel adds. And they check in regularly with staff members to share feedback.

“Everyone needs to feel that their unique skills are being used and further developed in a way that contributes to the priorities of the organization,” Frankel says.

3. Do you delegate effectively? Delegation is not just about saving a manager’s time and fostering operational efficiency. It’s about preparing employees for promotion.

“Step-up assignments are great tools for grooming people into higher levels of responsibility,” says William Rothwell, professor of workforce education and development at Penn State University. “And a great way to use them is to systematically delegate a manager’s duties.”

This technique is of particular value to workers who expressed a desire to get ahead. Rothwell suggests telling these people that the process of delegation is intended to help them step up to more responsible positions.

Set reachable goals by delegating one or two items from the manager’s job description every year.

“Proceeding slowly will allow time to coach the worker on effective techniques for mastering each duty,” Rothwell says.

4. Do you challenge employees to set reasonable performance goals? Employees are motivated to perform well when they take ownership of their future. Managers must ensure workers buy into any mandated performance parameters. That process begins with a clearly drawn road map.

“If we set expectations that are not clearly understood, manager and employee will operate on different wavelengths,” says Randy Goruk, president of The Randall Wade Group in Scottsdale, Arizona. “The manager expects X and the employee thinks: ‘I’m going to do Y.’ Next thing you know you’ve got somebody not meeting expectations.”

Seek assurances that the employee really understands what’s expected of them, Goruk advises. One way to do that is to invite the individual to restate the expectations you delineated. It’s better to discover any disconnect now than six months down the road.


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