Dominic and Laura Ashley-Timms of performance consultancy Notion explore five traits successful managers have in common – and how you can develop them to fully embrace new seniority
For anyone who has experienced a boss who micromanages, criticises or fails to show gratitude, it’s not hard to understand why a poor manager is one of the top reasons an employee leaves a job. Which is why there’s growing interest in a recently proven management approach called Operational Coaching®, which managers in over forty countries are learning to adopt.
A survey conducted in 2023 by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) found that 28% of workers cited a negative relationship with their manager as a reason for leaving a job in the past. Among those who told the researchers they had an ineffective manager, one-third said they were less motivated to do a good job, with 50% stating they were considering looking for new employment within the next 12 months.
Ineffective management also has a significant impact on overall productivity. For example, the CMI’s ‘Management and the UK 2030’ report found that if the UK were to meaningfully close the gap in management training with Germany over the next 10 years, it could see a financial gain in the region of £76bn in improved productivity.
However, tempting as it might be to simply point the finger at poor managers, systemic issues need to be addressed. The fact is that most managers are thrust into their promotion with no formal preparation or training in management or leadership. According to the CMI research, 82% of new managers in the UK should be classed as “accidental managers”. From entrepreneurs who have founded their own companies to employees climbing the corporate ladder, it’s often the case that people end up in management positions because they’re really good at what they do – whether that’s sales, marketing, engineering, data processing and so on. They don’t necessarily have the communication and engagement skills that are, in fact, key to being an effective “people” manager.
The good news is that it’s completely possible to learn these necessary skills – indeed, as legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.” So, what must you do to transform from an “accidental manager” into a great one? Well, here are some of the things that successful managers have in common:
The good news is that it’s completely possible to learn these necessary skills – indeed, as legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.” So, what must you do to transform from an “accidental manager” into a great one? Well, here are some of the things that successful managers have in common:
They practice open, honest conversations
If, say, you’d left your car headlights on overnight, you’d want someone to tell you about it, right? The last thing you’d want was to be left in the dark about it – until you find yourself with a flat battery the next morning. The same goes for team management; you must ensure that employees do not feel that they have been left in the dark. Particularly during the remote/hybrid era, having open, honest conversations helps to foster team engagement and prevents friction between yourself and team members and between themselves. Cultures that encourage two-way communication in this way also benefit from increased innovation and inclusion, as team members feel confident sharing ideas and solutions for problems/challenges.
They actively listen
Active listening is part of effective communication and is a vital skill that managers should cultivate. It’s not just about hearing what an employee has to say; it’s about acknowledging it, too. A good active listener completely focuses on the conversation, picks up on body language and what “isn’t” being said.
It sounds straightforward, but we’re so used to being distracted by phones or computers that it happens much less often than it should! However, active listening is crucial for building trust with your employees and helps to better understand what each member of your team values, expects from you, and may be struggling with. All of this is incredibly important when managing multi-generational teams that may have different needs and ideas.
They ask powerful questions
Asking powerful questions is, in fact, a management and leadership superpower – and one that’s largely under-utilised because we’ve never been taught how to use purposeful enquiry as a skill. It’s a natural extension of having listened actively and can only become an effective communication approach when a manager begins to adopt more of a coaching mindset instead of thinking of themselves as being “in charge” – an authoritative figure who must be seen to hold all the answers and provide constant direction and advice. Developing a mindset of truly leading a team means stimulating the thinking and engaging the talents of the whole team, generating a culture of collaborative problem solving.
Instead of telling your employees what to do, asking them powerful questions designed to stimulate the most helpful thinking at that moment will enable them to find the answers for themselves. Thought-provoking questions like “What would have to change?”, “What would the best outcome be?” or “What might a colleague say about the situation?” show that you’re actively listening and will help you to create an authentic bond with your team members and build trust. It demonstrates to them that their thinking and contributions are valued and encourages them to feel more autonomy over their roles.
More than that, actively listening and asking powerful questions benefits the organisation. The most successful companies work collaboratively from the bottom up by tapping into the diverse experience and expertise of the entire workforce, and this can only be done if management asks authentic and well-intentioned questions and listens to the answers.
They give appreciative feedback
Everyone likes being praised for a job well done: 82% of employees are happier when recognised at work, according to research by SurveyMonkey. However, many managers are nervous about giving feedback and tackling potentially awkward conversations. Feedback is often misinterpreted to mean pointing out something that must be improved, but “appreciative” feedback is about more than this. The key is to avoid providing feedback that could assign blame and instead use it when an employee is doing well. Reinforcing positive behaviours motivates employees and builds confidence, plus it’s a brilliant way to point out the specific actions and behaviours which contributed to your team’s goals, helping to encourage others to do the same and improving overall performance.
They celebrate success
There are many ways of recognising success at work, from pay increases, bonuses and promotions to a simple “well done”. However, the most successful managers are those who embed an authentic culture of recognition within their department or organisation. This can be achieved by creating multiple chances to celebrate small successes by setting achievable
goals throughout a project or timeline. These goals help to contribute to a deep sense of collaboration within teams and also motivate them, improving engagement at work. People who feel valued and recognised will feel less like a “cog in a wheel” and more likely to be productive and driven.
Not all “accidental managers” are “bad” managers. It’s just that those who haven’t received skills training or developed a different mindset for their management role and purpose, tend to default to a management approach which does nothing to encourage the development and happiness of the people they manage. By adopting more of an Operational Coaching style of management, where all of the five behaviours above become a natural part of their everyday approach, managers can attract and retain their best people, setting them up to work in an inclusive environment that motivates and appreciates them. And who wouldn’t want to work in a culture like that?
About the authors
Dominic Ashley-Timms and Laura Ashley-Timms are the CEO and COO of performance consultancy Notion, creator of the multi-award-winning and internationally certified STAR® Manager programme which managers are pursuing in over 40 countries. They recently co-authored the new management bestseller ‘The Answer is a Question’.
Operational Coaching put to the Test
The UK Government sponsored a large-scale research programme to assess the impact of Operational Coaching® and whether it could improve UK productivity.
In a well-balanced randomised-control trial conducted by the London School of Economics (LSE) involving managers from 62 organisations across 14 sectors, managers pursued a learning programme that taught them how to adopt new behaviours and develop new skills associated with using an Operational Coaching style of management. In the largest study of its kind anywhere in the world, managers were shown statistically to have significantly increased the amount of time they spent coaching team members in the flow of work by an average of 70% within six months, generating a 74x return on investment per manager.
Positive trends were also indicated for intervention group organisations, with a six-fold improvement in employee retention (versus control group organisations), higher recruitment levels, and faster growth in underlying gross asset value.
The results were declared robust, and after passing peer review, they have now been published in the ‘Journal of Work Applied Management’.
