The Three C’s Successful Managers Follow

Managing people and getting the results you want isn’t easy. After all, you’re dealing with different personalities, different work styles and changing priorities. Sometimes you’re so busy keeping up with your supervisor’s demands that you forget about nurturing your staff.

Unfortunately, neglecting your employees can have a serious impact on your team or department. According to a Gallup survey, one in two employees left their jobs just to get away from a bad manager. No matter what challenges you face, keeping in mind the three C’s can help you meet your goals and decrease turnover.

Consistency

Although your department’s priorities may change week by week, the way you set expectations and respond to issues should remain consistent. Constantly changing procedures frustrates your employees and may harm their ability to be effective.

The way you react to situations can also affect your staff. If you’re welcoming and helpful one day and difficult and distant the next, your team will be hesitant to approach you about issues. When that happens, little problems can become huge challenges that take significant time to resolve.

If consistency is a problem for you, take time to review your policies (or lack thereof) and develop procedures that work not only today, but two months from now. If your emotions are the problem, resolve to keep your frustrations to yourself rather than letting your stress affect the way you interact with your team. Take a walk to cool off if you need to, but make sure your staff knows your reaction to a problem won’t vary wildly depending on your mood.

Courtesy

No one wants to work for someone who doesn’t treat them well, but it’s easy to forget about courtesy during a hectic workday. Treating employees poorly can lead to higher turnover and more employee sick days, as bad leadership can take a toll on health. If you’re more polite to strangers than you are to your team, you might need a courtesy refresher.

Courtesy involves treating everyone, regardless of their position, with respect. Although basic manners are certainly an important part of courteous behavior, courtesy goes beyond a simple "please" or "thank you." Courteous managers welcome employee ideas and input and don’t belittle employees even if they think an idea is silly. They're truly interested in their employees' opinions and let employees speak without interrupting them. Perhaps most importantly, they understand the importance of offering praise in public and criticism privately.

Commitment

Committed managers are dedicated to inspiring and supporting their team. If there’s a problem, they’ll help their employees find a solution. That doesn’t necessarily mean coming up with the answer themselves, but brainstorming with employees and guiding them toward workable solutions. Committed managers also make sure employees get the resources they need to do their jobs and advocate for them if they need help cutting through corporate red tape.

Some people are naturally great managers, but the rest of us can use a little help from time to time. The free A Better Leader webinar provides you with the information you need to improve your management technique and your relationship with your employees.