6 Traits of a Good Manager

Good managers don’t just happen. For most people, becoming an effective manager is about learning the skills to help get best out of a team of people. Often I see managers who were made managers for all the wrong reasons —because ‘they had been there the longest’, or ‘were the oldest’ or ‘the busiest stylist’… But none of those things are reason to assume that they will be good at managing other people and a business. If you want to succeed and build a business, it all starts with good management. 

Here are six traits of a good manager that top my list:

  1. They engage. One character trait I observe in good managers is that they have a high level of engagement with their team. In other words, they are heavily involved with their people at every level, they interact with them constantly and they let them know when they are doing well and when they're not doing well.
  2. They coach people. Good managers take the time to help people identify what their goals are and help them become who they want to be.
  3. They know it’s all about the relationships. A good manager spends time building trust and rapport with the people on their team because they understand how important one-on-one relationships are.
  4. They have the ‘tough’ conversations. Good managers aren't afraid to have the tough conversations. That doesn't mean they are aggressive or insensitive, but instead calm and rational, firm but fair.
  5. They have good organization skills. Good managers understand the need to be organized and operate with a degree of consistency and control.
  6. They understand the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal of every business is to make a profit. Good managers inherently understand that everything they do is for the viability of the business. Ultimately they manage the productivity of every individual on the team.

About: Antony Whitaker is Mr. Motivation! The ultimate educator and motivator, with a worldwide reputation based on more than 30 years experience in the hairdressing industry. He is internationally acclaimed as a gifted, multi award-winning stylist-turned-educator, motivator, business coach and best-selling author of the GROW book series. Twice named Australian hairdresser of the year. UK based Antony is now recognized and respected worldwide as the industry’s leading motivational speaker, having taken his message on management, money, marketing, team-building and retailing to more than 250,0000 hairdressers in more than 40 countries. His GROW series of inspirational books for hairdressers, salon owners and managers sets a new benchmark of business excellence for hairdressers. To find out more or to subscribe to his inspirational ‘Unplugged’ audio club featuring monthly interviews with industry icons, or to enquire about a limited amount of one to one telephone coaching for salon owners and managers visit here.