Great points Clifford. One thing I try to do when I encounter behavior from my team that frustrates me is ask: why would this person, who is a rational, intelligent person do this? I've found that helps remind me that they do have these qualities & so I need to dig deeper to find out why they have acted in this manner.
Ryan
Supervisory skills are imperative in order to have a strong and confident team. Motivation and recognition of employees helps to create a cohesive, positive and effective team. Management qualities such as organization, knowledge and management skills are always beneficial. Some personal traits a manager needs to be successful are trust, honesty, compassion and integrity. My personal management skills are that of a Democratic nature. I believe including employees in decisions and getting input not only makes them work harder but also creates a stronger team unit. Utilizing employees ideas and creating responsibility makes for a more productive and successful organization.
Trust, honesty & integrity are so very important for a manager/leader. In fact, if they are not present it would be very difficult to utilize the democratic style & have your people engaged as they won't trust you to listen.
Ryan
As a manager/supervisor for many years I believe you really need to listen to your team. Often they are hesitant to vocalize but actions are much louder than words, you need to be able to read your team. I also feel a good team leader must lead by example.
There are so many skills, qualities, and competencies that are important to supervising others. One that I think is really important is knowing your employees. Once you know your employees you can adjust your leadership style in order to better supervise each employee. By knowing each employee you can get a better idea of what extrinsic and intrinsic rewards work best for motivating them. In addition to knowing your employees I think it’s also very important to understand and know yourself. Having high emotional intelligence allows you to be proactive and can better help you to manage certain situations if you think about how you would typically react to something and then think about what a better way to react would be.
Another skill that is important is the ability to motivate employees. Getting everyone on the same page and motivating them to share the vision of the team as well as motivating them to work towards a vision and goals.
Finally I think an important quality is being approachable, the skill that comes from this is creating a safe environment. When an employee feels that they can talk to you he/she will be more open to discussing potential areas of weakness or fears he/she may have and together you will have an opportunity to work through these types of issues.
All of these are truly vital skills for any leader. I think it really goes back to the leader's emotional intelligence as you mention here.
Ryan
Your reply is so true. I worked over 20 years in my career and was promoted to the Director position. I struggled at first with the fact that doing a good job in your position does not always make you a good Manager. I have been watching and learning from other Managers, taking courses, webinars, etc. and reading books to learn and improve on my managerial skills. I also ask for feedback from my team members.
Motivation and pursuing a goal
I have a strong sence of organization.
Organization is a great supervisory skill especially when it's balanced with great people skills.
Ryan
Again these are good skills, and we need to make sure that we don't allow these skills to cause us to run over people in our pursuit of these goals.
Ryan
I think my most important supervisory skill is that I say what I mean, and mean what I say. I am very careful about what I promise because if I promise something I WILL do it.
So many managers are ready to promise you the sun, moon, stars and shirt off their back, but they never deliver. After awhile I find myself not believing a word they tell me, they are just saying something to pacify me for the moment.
Yes, trust, credibility, integrity are powerful characteristics in a leader. And I think you make a good point regarding being careful what you promise. Some also promise everything with good intentions & then kill themselves trying to deliver. We need to be realistic in our expectations of ourselves & others.
Ryan
Thank you for the reminder that not all promises are empty in intent, that some are fully expecting to deliver, but are unable to do so even though they ARE trying. I know also that the inability may come from a road block above their level of management they failed to anticipate, but still their original motive was intent. Add judgmental to my list of things I need to work on.
You bet and I don't think judgmental...you've experienced life!
Ryan
TEAM WORK ,VISION AND PEOPLE SKILLS..
steve,
These are all key skills for anyone in a leadership position.
Dr. Ryan Meers
As an established manager the skills, qualities, and competencies that I believe are the most important are empathy, understanding, being detail oriented, goal driven, and team focused. Without these it is very difficult to promote a team environment and therefore, be a productive team. In my experience, the manager's who have succeeded more times than not were the ones who developed a team environment utilizing the above referenced skills and qualities. Additionally, those manager's who were able to develop their teams to also utilize these were able to build stronger and more productive employees.
Regina,
I definitely agree with you. These skills which are relational skills, truly help us lead others in an effective manner.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I believe that depending upon if you are a new or established manager determines some approaches you would take; however for both you must have/gain credibility with your staff. If you do not have this it is very difficult to have employees buy in. I think it is very important to have structure set clear expectations with your staff with open communication.
