5 Habits of Successful Managers

There are many characteristics that make managers successful. In the day-to-day routine of your profession, you must strive to continuously be receptive to inspiration and new ideas, while also keeping a balanced perspective. In addition, you must view your organization with an analytical eye so that you can recognize where improvements need to be made.

Those can be difficult tasks when you are consumed with the daily challenges of your job. In fact, many managers often gain an important sense of perspective only when they are soon to leave their position and move on to something new.

At that point, the newfound sense of perspective is wasted. Don’t let that happen to you. If you want to be an impartial, receptive, and analytical manager, you must think like a management consultant. An in-house manager naturally becomes biased and loses the ability to view the organization impartially. In order to regain your sense of perspective, you need to take a step back and view the organization as a consultant would.

Use these five tips to improve your role and your organization.

1. Remove yourself

Take a step back, and try to see the organization as an outsider would. This keeps you from getting trapped in the daily minutiae and allows you to look at the big picture. Then you can look at the major issues that need to be addressed in your workplace.

2. Seek facts and investigate

Decide what information you need to have in order to assess how your organization is really performing. Resist the tendency to get caught up in useless information that doesn’t really affect the big picture, but wastes your time. Choose to pursue information that would give you valuable insight, and set key performance indicators that will truly benefit the organization.

3. Make your time worthwhile

When you become engrossed in your duties, particularly when you have been in the same role for a long time, it is easy to slip into habits that are unproductive. Imagine that you are supplier and you are charging your organization; how would you make use of your time in that circumstance?

4. Look outward

There is valuable information and much inspiration to be gained by looking at what other companies are doing. Be open to new ideas, whether they come from within your organization or outside of it. Obtain as much useful information from your environment as possible.

5. Stay relevant

Continually educate yourself on the practices and behaviours that will improve your skills as a manager. Read management publications, and strive to improve your own role continuously. It is important to keep up with the news and developments that are relevant to your industry, but remember that management is a profession in its own right. Spend as much time honing your skills as a manager as you do studying your industry.

These five habits will help you to improve yourself as a manager as well as improving your organization. You can also improve yourself and your organization by pursuing training through the Leading Edge Group. To learn more about the courses available, contact the Leading Edge Group.

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