Ensuring productivity and employee satisfaction, effective management requires a unique combination of business and interpersonal skills. Choosing the right manager benefits company and employee interests alike, fostering a healthy internal culture and helping teams outperform the competition. The best managers are often hiding in plain sight. Management material is not always easy to spot, but there are some important clues to look for.
Are you curious about your management potential? Here are four signs that you’re ready to become a business manager.
The Best Business Managers Are the Most Empathetic
Managers are often recruited for their empathy skills, allowing them to navigate business environments by reading both client and employee needs. Within a corporate structure, empathy leads top managers to invest time and energy into their staff. Empathetic bosses recognize stress and personal problems, but also learn about their employees’ backgrounds and aspirations.
Empathy helps managers foster a healthy work culture and establish a dialogue. Yet, top managers draw a line between empathy and sympathy. While empathy helps bosses make equitable decisions in view of personal strengths and struggles, sympathy can lead them to act from guilt—or favour one employee over the others. If you’re empathetic but also good at holding your ground in a tough situation, you could have excellent management potential.
Natural Team Players Thrive in Managerial Positions
According to Gallup, 50.8 percent of US employees are “not engaged” at work, with another 17.2 percent “actively disengaged”. Teamwork can increase employee engagement, with opportunities for innovation and dynamic exchanges. The best managers have the leadership abilities to foster a productive team environment, encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Communication is essential for engagement and teamwork. Business managers deploy their interpersonal skills with regular meetings, providing feedback and updating employees on the bigger company picture. Top managers also know how to motivate their team and each member individually. Therefore, if you’re an excellent communicator and a good team player, you might be an excellent manager-in-the-making.
A strong team culture helps employees motivate themselves
A Top Problem Solver Is More Likely to Become a Business Manager
Problem-solving is a key indicator of managerial potential. For professionals with business management training, problem-solving demonstrates expertise in high-pressure situations. The best managers are able to evaluate a situation from all angles, and take quick—but sound—action. Business managers must consider internal and external consequences of their decisions, assessing how a given solution might affect both a business’ culture and its market standing.
For business managers, problem-solving means accepting one’s own advice. Good bosses set personal objectives, motivating themselves to tackle complex or high-expertise problems. This approach helps business managers confront adversity while earning the trust and respect of employees. If you think you have these qualities, or if you want to develop them through business management training, then you could do very well as a manager.
Effective Business Managers Never Stop Learning
For a professional hoping to become a business manager, curiosity is essential. Adapting to new industry practices and a demanding market, business managers take every opportunity to learn more about their field or sector. The best managers are constantly searching for possible improvements—often parting with ego and reaching out for assistance.
In addition to business and interpersonal skills, managers must learn to adapt their knowledge in particular corporate environments. A top business management program will lay the foundations for this continued learning—a key component of professional growth.
Do you think you would be an excellent fit for a career in business management?
