There are lots of good managers out there, but very few that we would call exceptional. These are the people who both know the jobs (of the people that work for them) inside out, but also can interact with their staff on a more personal level. They have the soft skills that make working for them a pleasure. These are some of the attributes of a good manager – or rather an exceptional one:

The first skill the person should have is fairness. Everyone is treated equally in their organization, and if there is a favorite person, it’s very well hidden. Go out of your way to treat everyone the same – fairly.

Another attribute to work on is transparency. Make it crystal clear how decisions are made whenever you can. Explain the criteria. If you do this, you can circumvent all the second guessing that will go on behind your back. Include your people in the creation of the criteria where possible (leaving the actual decision to you, of course).

Find out what the prime motivator is for each of your people. Different people work for different reasons. For some, it’s just a job and a paycheck. For others, it’s the opportunity for career advancement, or the flex time, or something completely different. Find out what it is.

Be interested in your staff’s careers. Skim over the HR postings, and you might find that “accounting manager job description” that perfectly fits someone in your department. Let them know about it, and help them pursue it.

Be accessible to your people. Make it standard policy that “your door is always open”, both metaphorically and physically. They should feel comfortable coming to you any time. Practice lots of MBWA (Management By Walking Around) too.

These are but a few of the exceptional manager practices that I’ve noticed over the years. Are there others?