A.C.T.I.O.N Management

What does a team look for in a manager?

What does a manager actually do…?

No seriously, I’m asking you, what do you think a manager actually does?  More specifically what does a GOOD manager do? There are plenty of theories to choose from, and there’s some confusion about the difference between managers and leaders.  A manager is often painted as someone who organises resources and sets targets, whilst a leader provides vision, motivation, and inspiration.

In my opinion a great manager NEEDS to have some of the so-called leadership attributes, even if their role doesn’t directly impact the strategic management of the business.  Managers and supervisors lead their teams. If you stick to the idea that managers only organise resources and set targets, you’ll likely end up with someone with a ‘yell and tell’ approach. A manager who misses the opportunity to develop people and bring out the best in them, a manager who demotivates, and possibly even alienates, people, a manager who doesn’t see the value in involving their teams in decisions or keeping them informed, a manager who thinks it’s all about them and likes control over everything – in short a bad manager!

A good way to look at this is to ask yourself - what do YOU expect from your manager? – that’s pretty much what your team will expect of you. 

Often when you ask people to describe their ideal manager they don’t reel off a list of skills, they talk about characteristics and traits.  In response to this view of a manager I’ve developed A.C.T.I.O.N Management.

A.C.T.I.O.N Management identifies six traits teams look for in a manager – regardless of the level of the organisation they are at, whether a supervisor or a CEO. Anyone responsible for managing people needs these to some degree.  Each trait is supported by particular skills and abilities.  A way of judging how well you (or anyone else for that matter) are likely to be demonstrating these traits is to consider how good you are at the underlying skills.  If you’re already competent in those then it’s safe to assume you are already demonstrating that trait to others. You don’t need to be an expert in all the relevant skills in order to successfully demonstrate a trait.  If however you feel that you aren’t strongly performing against one of the traits you can look at the underlying skills and pick one or two and develop those further.

The six traits a team will look for in a manager are -

A - Assured

C - Communicator

T - Trusted

I - Inclusive

O - Organised

N - Nurturing

Hence A.C.T.I.O.N Management. 

The underlying skills for each trait are;

Assured - Assertiveness, ability to influence, ability to sell, ability to handle conflict

Communicator - Flexible style, ability to pay attention, presentation skills and negotiation skills

Trusted - Able to make good decisions, managing through change, able to delegate, build safety

Inclusive - Aware of diversity and biases, empathy, able to build a strong team, managing hybrid/remote teams

Organised - Able to manage time effectively, manage meetings, able to network and manage stress

Nurturing - Develop self and others, provide motivational environment, creative with a growth mindset

Previous newsletters have already touched on some of these traits and skills, but in the next few weeks the Promotion Paradox will concentrate on each of the underlying skills.  Articles will outline what each one means and discuss how those skills can be developed further, with some hints, tips, and tools you can use. There will also be references to other resources you might find useful.

I hope you’ll enjoy the journey, and benefit from it!