Good and Bad Manager
Managers are the key persons to every organization. They possess various managerial skills that
are vital for the smooth running of the organization or the enterprise. There are different levels of
managers such as the top level, middle level, and the front-line managers.
Up Till now I have worked for two companies, a startup, and a well-structured global advertising
agency.
I would share my experience from both the organizations, denoted as Organization A and B,
Respectively.
Good Manager
My first encounter with a good manager was when I was working as an intern for a global advertising
agency//Organization A. This gentleman was a Middle level Manager of one of the three Office in India.
Below are the skills, techniques, Practices which in my observations made him a great manager.
Skill sets that I observed:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Communication
Organizing
Team Building
Leadership
Ability to Deal with Changes Effectively
Domain Knowledge
Techniques:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Good Listener
Holding people accountable
Being Human
Exploring failures as learning opportunities
Team First
Practices:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Investing in team
Servant Leadership
Ethics
Accepting feedback and acting
Effective Communication
Coaching and sharing
Asking questions and focusing on “Why”
Apart from these He also used to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and TimeBased) goals and used to encourage me by lifting my enthusiasm by providing us with motivational small
talks highlighting my own skills.
Bad Manager
My first encounter with a bad Manager was when I was working for a Recruitment Agency//Organization
B that delt into Recruitment of Information Technology professionals. This Gentlemen was the sole
proprietor of the company and was wearing many hats namely The Owner, Business Developer and
Manager of a team of 4 Recruitment Executives. Below are the skills, techniques, Practices which in my
observations made him a Bad manager.
Skill sets that I observed:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Denouncing attitude
Highly Unorganized
Stealing Credit
Limited Imagination and lack of zest to drive business.
Bad Negotiator
Unbaked Domain Knowledge
Techniques:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Order Giver
Holding people accountable for irrelevant objectives
Discriminative
Repeatedly Making same mistakes
Money First
Practices:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Lack of Trust
Micromanages
Highly Unethical
Receptive to feedbacks
Does not lead by example.
Asking questions and focusing on “Why”
Apart from these This manager had a frequent habit of overburdening his employees and had a bad Hire
and fire attitude.
Lessons Learned


A manager needs to be an effective communicator and should be open to criticism, moreover,
should have an attitude of continuous improvement.
Managers need to respect their staff, guide them, establish ethical values, and empower them to
achieve more.