Managers Need To Become Leaders

Most managers do not make use of feedback as a way to be helpful to the employee or even the organization. According to a study, only a quarter of employees agree that the feedback helps them perform better.

The decentralized, remote and agile nature of modern organizations is changing how people work, and most prefer autonomy and creative solutions, rather than walking the path the manager tells them to.

The traditional method of feedback, the one-way, isolated, episodic interaction in which the manager politely uses the sandwich approach to focus on past mistakes is not working any more.

An interactive two-way communication is key, in which genuine, sincere and meaningful conversation is evident and is heard both ways. If there is a script to be followed at all times, then there is a problem, but if difficult conversations start to look easy due to frequent, human conversations, then a two-way street has been established.

When the employee experiences bitter feedback related to the past which is useless to the current scenario, it creates an atmosphere of distrust. Managers need to be adaptive and coach the employee in real-time, focusing on the future, and not on the past.

Great managers paint a vision of the upcoming goal, and how to succeed in achieving the same, while clearing the obstacles the employee will eventually face.

Organizations require managers to get employees work on multiple projects, multiple deadlines, while removing the barriers and managing interpersonal and communication challenges.

Even more than the bottom line, effective management is often how the customer, team, employee or vendor are feeling about their interactions and actions.