You may go through your entire career and never be able to experience Great Managers. And because of that, you yourself must become a Great Manager.

1.
4
Key
Characteristics
of
Great
Managers
Key
Points
• Supportive:
The
difference
between
support
and
micromanagement
• Loyal:
Standing
up
for
your
team
• Transparent:
Practice
transparency;
knowledge
is
power
• Influential:
Motivation
through
education
Having
a
Great
Manager
seems
almost
an
anomaly
these
days;
great
meaning,
“a
manager
whose
entire
team
is
happy
and
engaged”.
It
seems
so
easy
for
someone
to
just
be
respectful
and
nice
to
people,
but
studies
have
shown
that
this
is
just
not
something
people
can
do.
Now,
you
are
probably
thinking
why
is
this
an
anomaly
and
why
is
it
so
difficult
for
someone
to
be
at
least
a
decent
manager.
To
those
who
have
experienced
working
for
every
bad
manager
stereotype,
we
all
know
that
finding
a
Great
Manager
seems
like
a
unicorn
sighting.
According
to
an
HBR
study
in
2014,
the
manager
accounts
for
at
least
70%
of
variance
in
employee
engagement
scores
across
business
units
(HBR,
Why
Good
Managers
are
So
Rare).
And
because
of
that,
we
know
that
the
actions
and
attitude
of
the
manager
directly
reflect
onto
their
employees.
This
study
also
reported
that
“only
30%
of
U.S.
employees
are
engaged
at
work,
and
a
staggeringly
low
13%
worldwide
are
engaged.
Worse,
over
the
past
12
years
these
low
numbers
have
barely
budged,
meaning
that
the
vast
majority
of
employees
worldwide
are
failing
to
develop
and
contribute
at
work.”
After
seeing
this,
it
makes
you
wonder
who,
if
anyone,
is
happy
or
engaged
at
work.
And
then
it
makes
you
think
about
these
companies
that
consistently
rank
as
“Best
Companies
to
Work
For”
…
Are
they
the
only
ones
who
have
happy/engaged
employees?
Obviously
there
is
no
such
magical
company
where
everyone
is
happy
(maybe?),
but
I
am
guessing
that
there
are
a
few
gems
out
there
that
have
a
higher
than
30%
average.
I
know
that
the
numbers
doesn’t
favor
the
likelihood,
but
we
have
to
have
some
optimism
and
hope
that
there
is
that
so-­‐called
“Great
Manager”
out
there.
And
if
this
Art
of
the
Wingman
for
Business
is
dedicated
to
the
businesswomen
and
businessmen
who
seek
greatness
beyond
their
own
and
find
their
successes
through
helping
others
succeed.
The
Business
Wingman
follows
the
path
of
the
selfless
person.

2. does
feel
like
you
may
be
more
likely
to
see
a
unicorn
than
have
a
great
manager,
then
the
best
way
you
can
contribute
to
this
terrible
statistic
is
to
turn
yourself
into
that
model
Great
Manager.
Take
advice
where
possible
and
prove
us
all
wrong.
Become
that
Great
Manager
and
prove
that
there
is
hope.
1) Supportive:
The
difference
between
support
and
micromanagement
Of
the
4
characteristics
of
a
Great
Manager,
this
one
seems
like
the
most
common
characteristic
missing
from
managers.
When
a
manager
is
supportive,
they
are
more
likely
to:
encourage
you
to
succeed,
be
helpful
when
you
need
help,
care
about
your
working
hours
and
support
a
strong
work-­‐life
balance,
and
most
of
all
trust
you
to
be
able
to
do
the
work
you
were
hired
for
and
not
worry
that
it
won’t
get
done.

3. And
of
all
of
these
“bad”
characteristics,
I
think
we
should
focus
a
little
more
on
the
trust
part.
I
have
had
my
fair
share
of
bad
managers
and
I
am
certain
that
each
manager
all
had
something
in
common
whether
they
were
a
bully,
a
micromanager,
incompetent,
or
unavailable;
I
feel
that
each
one
of
them
was
filled
with
FEAR.
This
type
of
fear
comes
from
a
manager
either
insecure
about
their
abilities,
unable
to
comprehend
the
work
that
you
do,
or
fear
that
you
may
one
day
get
promoted
over
them.
This
type
of
fear
causes
mistrust,
micro-­‐management
and
a
lack
of
any
support
that
a
manager
should
give
you.
2) Loyal:
Standing
up
for
your
team
Loyalty
can
be
interpreted
in
many
ways,
so
let’s
just
simplify
this
characteristic
and
define
it
as
“standing
up
for
your
team
and
your
employees;
being
loyal
to
your
team”.
It’s
important
to
tell
your
team
and
demonstrate
to
them
that
you
will
support
them
in
their
decisions
and
actions.
Having
this
type
of
relationship
with
your
employees
only
helps
to
build
trust
and
engagement….
especially
when
times
get
tough.
For
every
manager,
you
will
for
sure
have
one
of
those
days
when
someone
on
your
team
makes
a
very
big
(and
noticeable)
mistake
and
then
you
get
a
call
from
Management
and
have
to
explain
what
happened….
then
someone
has
to
be
blamed.
We
will
not
go
into
the
details
of
how
to
deal
with
a
situation
like
this
in
this
article,
but
what
you
need
to
know
is
that
everyone
makes
mistakes
and
if
it
was
from
a
member
of
your
team,
you
need
to
decide
how
to
approach
the
situation
and
not
use
your
employee
as
the
scapegoat
and
throw
them
under
the
bus.
As
the
manager,
you
will
have
to
be
responsible
for
your
team’s
actions
too.
So
yes,
every
employee
will
make
a
mistake,
and
although
it
is
their
doing,
you
are
the
team
manager
and
it
is
up
to
you
to
take
responsibility,
and
yes,
you
must
clearly
communicate
the
mistake
to
that
team
member
and
educate
them
on
the
how
they
can
prevent
this
from
happening
again.
This
is
what
comes
with
having
a
management
role.
Also,
there
definitely
will
be
times
that
you
completely
disagree
with
your
employee
and
you
may
get
upset
by
their
decision.
It’s
up
to
you
to
stay
poised,
professional
and
composed
when
you
communicate
this
to
the
employee.
They
will
be
able
to
sense
any
kind
of
ill
feelings
and
things
could
escalate
really
fast.
Don’t
let
this
happen.
If
you
have
to
take
quick
break,
step
out
of
the
office
or
take
a
quick
power
nap
in
order
to
calm
down…then
do
it.
A
bad
conversation
can
make
a
lasting
impression.
3) Transparent:
Practice
transparency;
knowledge
is
power
Transparency
is
all
about
giving
your
employees
the
knowledge
and
information
to
make
the
right
decisions.
This
all
comes
with
trust.
Once
you
feel
that
you
can
trust
your
employees
to
do
the
right
thing,
it’s
only
best
to
then
empower
them
with
information.
As
we
all
know,
knowledge
is
power.
Enabling
your
team
to
drive
decisions
without
you
having
to
be
there
is
maybe
the
smartest
thing
that
you’ll
ever

4. do
as
a
manager.
The
benefits
of
this
type
of
enablement
allows
you
to
grow
your
business,
scale
your
programs,
build
efficiencies,
identify
change
opportunities,
and
overall
just
have
a
happy
and
engaged
team.
And
remember,
obviously
there’re
things
that
must
stay
private
when
you
are
a
manager.
So,
just
be
smart
about
it.
4) Influential:
Motivation
through
education
Being
influential
is
a
tremendous
opportunity
in
your
role
as
a
manager.
Like
most
people,
you
have
a
set
of
criteria
that
you
look
for
in
a
manager.
Basically,
you’re
saying
that
I
will
only
work
for
this
person
if
this
or
if
that.
One
of
my
personal
criteria
that
I
look
for
a
manager
is
whether
or
not
they
are
influential
and
can
teach
me
something.
I
look
for
a
manager
who
can
both
motivate
me
to
work
harder
and
to
be
a
better
employee…
somebody
that
can
educate
me
and
teach
me
about
my
role
and
about
my
industry.
I
recall
having
a
manager
where
every
single
time
I
asked
a
question,
he
made
it
a
point
to
always
give
me
the
big
picture
answer.
He
made
sure
to
let
me
know
that
this
specific
tactic
that
I
needed
to
accomplish
was
a
part
of
a
bigger
project
and
he
was
always
available
to
explain
how
it
related
to
the
bigger
project.
Because
of
this
type
of
information
it
made
me
a
smarter
employee
and
allowed
me
to
really
grow
into
my
position
and
excel
throughout
the
years.
In
conclusion
There’s
no
such
thing
as
a
perfect
manager,
but
I
truly
believe
that
there
is
such
a
thing
as
a
Great
Manager.
From
the
research
above,
the
likelihood
of
you
having
one
of
those
Great
Managers
may
be
slim
to
none.
For
most,
you
may
go
through
your
entire
career
and
never
be
able
to
experience
what
it’s
like
to
have
a
Great
Manager.
And
because
of
that,
I
ask
you
to
do
one
thing.
Go
against
the
grain.
Do
the
uncommon
thing
and
you
yourself
become
a
Great
Manager.
Prove
everybody
wrong,
and
show
everybody
that
there
is
hope.
Visit
our
blog
at
http://www.artofthewingman.com.