Are you a good manager/leader? How do you become that way?

[Anonymous]

There are many ways to be a good manager, OP, and many ways to be a bad one. You have to find a method that fits your personality. If you're anxious and tend to be rather controlling, you will need to compromise between a certain level of respectful supervision and hiring the right people who in your view will make responsible decisions without your input. If you inherit a team, you need to understand how each of them works and bring out the best in each of them.

I think the root of being a good manager is treating everyone with respect. EVERYONE. Your team sees whether you greet the janitors cleaning the bathrooms, for ex, or the staff in the cafeteria, if there is one. You need to be respectful of people's time, of balancing their load among the team, of accommodating their various personalities and playing to their strengths, instead of trying to make them fit your mold. That's really hard!

And in the end... the good managers aren't necessarily the ones that get promoted. In certain workplaces, the ones who get promoted are the ones who spend a huge portion of their strategizing time networking with higher ups and flattering them in just the right away. They might neglect their team as a result.

[Anonymous]

I believe in most agencies there are management trainings you can take. I've taken a few and they are helpful, particulalry when learning to deal with the difficult employees.

[Anonymous]

Women are the worst managers I have had. And they treat the women even worse. It's just been my personal experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Women are the worst managers I have had. And they treat the women even worse. It's just been my personal experience.

They are extreme micromanagers and call too many unnecessary meetings and panic over the most trivial issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Women are the worst managers I have had. And they treat the women even worse. It's just been my personal experience.

10000000% They are incapable of micromanaging. Unable to mentor is a huge issue!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe in most agencies there are management trainings you can take. I've taken a few and they are helpful, particulalry when learning to deal with the difficult employees.

Handling difficult employees doesn’t make you get manager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a fed supervisor is way different than being a good leader.

You can't actually fire someone so how can you be a good leader?

Just my take as a business owner watching my husband attempt to manage the absolute worst people.

I worked in the federal government for 8 years. It was not different than my F500 corporate job in terms of the proportion of excellent/average/slacker employees.

I saw a few people get fired at both places. Mostly lower levels. For violating workplace policies and stealing things (computers) to get cash.

When people talk crap about government workers it discourages quality people from applying.

I never heard the expression "good enough for government work" until I moved away from DC. And ironically it was in the context of the government bailing out a "too big to fail" corporation that had mismanaged its private sector financials.

Interesting. My husband couldn't fire anyone. Not even the guy that stopped showing up for work. That guy DID eventually get placed on leave for his second major harassment claim.

He had to find creative ways to get people out of the org like supporting their transfers to other organizations.

There are so many ways to fire feds if you really want to. It doesn’t sound like your husband had the support he needed but in my fed agency people most definitely get fired.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the level you supervise, too. Entry level will require different skills than staff who have more knowledge and experience than you.

[Anonymous]

“I'm a fed supervisor with a team of seven, and I find that a hands-off approach (being there to support when needed but not micromanage) works best. “

This also used to be my approach. Something that I realized after some time is that different folks on my team benefit from different approaches. In other words, it is not one sized fits all. Out of a team of seven, I have two that are very autonomous and basically do their own thing and come to me if they have a question or something they want me to weigh in on. A couple of others need much more intensive contact, like twice a week we go over what they’re working on in any obstacles and what I can do to clear the way or explain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Women are the worst managers I have had. And they treat the women even worse. It's just been my personal experience.

lol, maybe you are the worst employee.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I treat people like adults. Don't let my emotions or short term financial goals make decisions for me. I always play the long game. I look at is a trying not to keep my job, but making sure I have a job in the future.

[Anonymous]

Take manager training. If your company doesn't offer it look up and do it on your own.

Give very clear directions. Learn your teams styles. Like do they need written instructions or do they need to talk it through to get the point. Flex your directions for each employee accordingly.

Meet regularly. Probably every week if not more. Have them report on whats on their plate and ask you questions. You can also use this time to address any concerns in a non threatening way.

Be direct. Give as much detail as you can. Tell someone when they make a mistake.

Delegate like you mean it. Dont give work then takenit back.

Be consistent. No surprises.

[Anonymous]

Lots of good advice here. I will add - admit when you mess up and take accountability. I misjudged a situation when I first started and trusted the wrong person. I apologized to the person whom I should have trusted and told them that I would do better in the future. They were stunned, very pleasantly. We had a great relationship after that and it helped other staff to trust me, too, because he told them all about it.

[Anonymous]

For how big of a team? I was a bad manager when I had too many direct reports and the org would not let me create more levels and put some people under others. Not a micromanager or anything, but the opposite, meaning I neglected people.

I would say I was a much better manager with like 3 or 4 directs vs. 20.

[Anonymous]

Yes. And I hate it. So I quit.