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What does it take to be a good manager? Over the years I have read many books on management styles, office politics, success motivation and how to make the tough decisions that many businesses seem to avoid. Here is a summary of what I learned about how to be a good manager:

1. A good manager must be comfortable at delegating tasks. One of the managers I worked for in the legal field was excellent at delegating. He used a legal pad with five columns, one for each employee. During his five-minute morning conference with each employee, he delegated mail that merited a simply reply and then wrote a key word in each column to remind himself of who he gave a particular task to. Each employee reported to him at the end of the day and let him know the status of each task.

2. A good manager must challenge employees with responsibility. Many employees conduct their personal business on your time, do the task expected of them without pride and are very poor at time management. When accepting the blame for an error, a boss of mine once said to me, "A fish rots from the head." In other words, if you have problems with your employees, you might want to take a hard look at your management style. Our society has lost the puritan work ethic that taught us that our work is a reflection of ourselves and what we offer to God. I think those very employees that you are having trouble with are crying out to you to help them reach their best potential.

3. A good manager seeks to understand what went wrong. I grew up with two messages from my family business, both from my mother. "Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is how to correct them" and "You mess me up once, shame on you, you mess me up twice, shame on me." Take to the time to understand why the employee made a mistake and to redirect. If after repeated instruction the problem remains, either the explanation is not clear or it is time to replace the employee.

4. A good manager knows when to release employees for the company's best interest. I knew a manager who had to have his business partner fly down to to the dirty work. This was a waste of the company's time and resources. The law is simple on this one "If you can't fire, don't hire." When a manager is unhappy with an employee, chances are the employee is unhappy as well. Simply let the employee know that the business relationship is just not working out for either of you. Remember you should hire an employee to fit a job description, not edit the job description to fit the employee.

5. Attitude is everything! In retail, we have all heard that the "Customer is always right", but what about when employees have a bad attitude. Release the employees that think they are doing you a favor working for you, the ones that just aren't happy and no matter what you do, and those that carry a chip on their shoulder due to a problem that was never resolved. Negativity spreads like a disease in a company whereas a positive attitude takes time to develop and must be nourished daily. One employer I worked for had a five-minute meeting every morning to start the day. During the meeting, tasks were assigned, important deadlines stated, new products introduced, and if we had a minute to spare, we often shared something personal with our fellow employees, such as whether someone read a good book or wanted to recommend a restaurant. Employees need to feel as if they are part of a team and that you are the coach motivating them to win.

Learn more about this author, Becky Rolland.
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