~Steps to Becoming a Good Manager~

By Ralph Heibutzki

Becoming a manager means more than adopting a new title. To function effectively, good managers must promote an open atmosphere where creative thinking is encouraged. By treating employees like adults, good managers will maximize a company's performance, while allowing freedom to learn from whatever mistakes might occur along the way. In contrast, bad or mediocre managers share none of these traits, because they do not accept responsibility for their own shortcomings.

Candor and Credit

Good managers let employees know where they stand, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch wrote in an April 2005 "Newsweek" essay. This tendency builds trust when managers must deliver bad news, such as imminent layoffs, says Welch. Good managers pass credit around when times are good--and take responsibility for ideas that go wrong. They resist the urge to kiss up or kick down, because they know that their abilities will eventually be recognized, according to Welch.

Encouraging Creative Thinking

Encouraging an atmosphere where creative thinking flourishes is another prerequisite for any business to succeed, management guru Scott Berkun advised "Entrepreneur" in an August 2008 interview. Good managers treat employees like people and allow them to make mistakes--as long as they learn from them, according to Berkun. This philosophy goes against the punitive perfectionism that managers are often taught to implement--but its simplicity is much more effective, says Berkun.

Making Unpopular Decisions

While good managers seek out their employees' feedback, they also know how to make tough calls such as cutting funding for projects or letting people go, says Welch. Tough calls will meet resistance, so good managers must prepare to explain their reasoning, and then move forward. To lead effectively, managers must realize they were not chosen to win popularity contests, since they must often base decisions on incomplete information, says Welch.

Resisting Micromanagement Tendencies

Good managers avoid spending countless hours on minor items, according to consultant and employee pollster David Sirota. Having surveyed numerous Fortune 500 companies, Sirota recalled seeing many bad examples of managerial micromanagement such as employees asking permission for restroom breaks, he told "Fortune" in September 2006. Managers who treat employees like children create a culture that destroys morale and undermines performance, according to Sirota.

Setting the Example

Getting employees to take risks does not happen unless the manager sets the example, says Welch. On learning about another company's good idea, Welch would return to General Electric "and make a scene," he recalled, in his "Newsweek" article. Although such behavior sometimes overstated the case for a particular idea, at least employees knew he was enthusiastic about it. Unless managers live with their ideas first, they will have a harder time getting employees to accept them, says Welch.