There are many factors in creating good managers. Trust is a key consideration.
By John Matthews
Retailers require good people to reach their goals and convenience stores are no exception. Surrounding yourself with talented people enables all ships to rise—the company, the employees and yourself.
While developing an impressive team does not happen overnight, it’s critical for the manager of that team to set the stage and let people excel in their roles. The manager’s role, in my opinion, isn’t to do the job of your team, but rather create an environment that enables each member to contribute to the overall success of the team.
MANAGING SUCCESS
Before a team can best be constructed though, several areas need to be addressed in advance:
Know Your Management Style. One of the most important abilities of a manager is to know their own management style. Knowing how you manage others will often dictate the personalities of the people you hire. I have always lived by the philosophy that when I hire, I look for two qualities: Smarts and passion. Hiring the smartest people enables your team to constantly challenge the status quo and combining that with a passion for excellence, fosters a team environment that is second-to-none.
The key to success in that scenario, though, resides with the confidence and willingness of the manager to encourage continual strength of the team.
Know Your People. Not every team or team member is built the same way. It is critical for the manager to understand each of the personalities on the team and manage the group through the myriad of personalities. In some cases, it can become evident to the manager that the reason the team is faltering, is not due to talent, but rather misguided talent. One gauge of personality types is through Myers-Briggs testing, which essentially “classifies” personalities through a number of metrics:
• How people interact with others: Extraverted (E) or Introverted (I). For example extraverted people always want to know “what could be.” They are adept at understanding the external environment, but they always want to take it one step further.
• How the team members process information: Sensing (S) or through Intuition (I)
• How they make decisions: Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
• How employees deal with the outside world: Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)
Combine these attributes together and your team members can fall into one of 16 classifications. Understanding what makes each employee tick is critical for a manager to maximize productivity out of each of the employees and ultimately the team overall.
Hire People Smarter Than You. A progressive manager will look beyond their own capacities and hire brilliant people to work on the team. The higher the echelon of the team (i.e., more senior), the more technical experts are required to fulfill the roles on the team.
The manager becomes less of a content-driver and more of an administrator/coach helping the entire team guide their way through the corporate bureaucracy that permeates most organizations. Once the team is in place, the manager is charged with holding each of the team members accountable.
Communicate Vision, Goals, Expectations and Time Lines. Once the team is in place, weaving together a well- thought-through strategic business plan is mission No. 1 for the manager. The strategic plan should outline the vision, communicate goals, create expectations and choreograph the deliverables in a timely fashion.
Every successful team has an effective leader at its helm that can outline the strategic plan and yet simultaneously hold their team accountable for its tactical execution.
Know The End Game. Hiring smart and passionate people ensures that the company expectations will be met while excelling the upside of both the manager and high-growth employees. The old adage clearly applies here—you are only as strong as your weakest link. Constantly re-evaluating the talent pool of the team is not only a good practice, but should be expected of its management.
