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I found an excellent post on Leader Notes on some selected key management principles while actually doing some research to try to pen a similar post on my own blog.

I liked Malcom Munro’s post so well that I thought I’d just do some commentary on some of the principles listed in hist post instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

1. Quit focusing on the outward appearance and concentrate on what’s on the inside.

Some may say that that sounds a bit trite, but I do believe that it’s true. Some individuals will be incredibly good at projecting an image. Evaluating substance over style is a good rule of thumb. Some of your most valuable folks won’t be your most socially skilled, or refined in dress, appearance or delivery. Focus first on character and performance, last on the thin shiny, and occasionally deceptive veneer.

2. Be a good listener.

This is oh, so true, but a lot easier to conceptualize than to actually do. I have become a solutions person. For a number of years I was paid to quickly analyze input and formulate options for potential solutions on the fly. That has tended to carry over into my interpersonal conversations as well, and at some cost.

If you want to establish relationships of trust with employees - or anyone for that matter, show them you care and are interested by hearing them out with an uncritical ear.

3. Put Yourself in Your Employees’ Shoes

Empathy is always a good thing. Even if you haven’t had similar experiences, try to put yourself in the other’s place. The key to building lasting working relationships is through the establishment of relationships based on trust. Showing empathy is a good way to build trust.

4. Be humble – nobody is good enough to be arrogant!

Amen, amen, and amen. You may be the pretty good at what you do. You may even be the bigshot in your little corner of the world, but even the best of the best are well served by a touch of humility. As a manager, a key component to your success and the success of your organization is the ability to have your subordinates want to succeed and want you to succeed. It is much, much easier to pull for someone who is humble.

Benjamin Franklin may have put it best: “To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.”

5. Allow people to have some autonomy – don’t micromanage them

Spot on. Teach your people correct principles. Train them as to the right way of doing things, and establish some high-level standards. Once that is done, set them loose. Allowing for employees to have autonomy in their spheres of responsibility allows them to feel a greater sense of ownership of the work being done, which will enhance the quality of the end deliverable. Going back to the bullet on humility, a manager has to realize that the varied talents and experience of his/her subordinates are a great asset that should be leveraged.

Provide freedom with some basic operating parameters that allow for freedom and creativity. Then, sit back and watch as the morale of your team and the quality of their deliverables reach new heights.

6. It’s Not Always About the Money

7. Ranting, raving, yelling, and screaming at employees won’t motivate them. They’ll actually think you look stupid and immature.

I’ve heard nightmare stories, but have been fortunate to not have to work for any real hotheads. I agree, though, that there are right and wrong ways to motivate and drive people to their best effort. I doubt the drill sergeant approach makes the top 10 in many lists outside the Army!

8. Understand your employees have outside concerns. They can’t just turn off their personal lives at work.

I’m a bit touchy on this point, although I think I understand why it is on the list. Here’s my point of apprehension: when I go home from work, I try to leave work at the office. I work to live, I don’t live to work. For this reason, I would expect that while “on the clock”, folks will do their very best to focus on their work responsibilities. However, it is incumbent upon a good manager to be human and to understand that folks will have good days, and some not-so-good ones, and that occasionally people just need a little slack.

9. People are emotional beings. Deal with them accordingly.

I’m not going to go into this point as I’m sure full books have been written on the topic without fully covering it. I think that a few of the previous points have supported this one, though.

To the list above, I would add one or two more (which are probably actually only subdivisions of those Munro has listed). The first of which is to be positive. I received the following quote via e-mail, and don’t know to whom it is attributed, but it is good and true:

“The king had two sons — one an optimist, the other a pessimist. The king gave the pessimist everything he desired, and he gave the optimist a room full of horse manure. The pessimist was despondent because he no longer had anything to look forward to. The optimist was as happy as he could be. ‘With all this manure,’ he said, ‘there must be a pony in here somewhere.’”

Sometimes you have to dig through a lot of manure to get to the pony. It is incumbent upon a manager - especially in scenarios where it is abundandly clear that there is no shortage of manure - to set the tone and communicate a “can do” attitude.

My last point would be to never pass up the opportunity to build your people up; to commend a job well-done, and to acknowledge the worth of each member of your team. Bonnie Jean Wasmund stated, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

When people feel that their best efforts will be recognized, they’ll be more inclined to repeat that type of effort. It is basic human nature to repeat behavior that is rewarded.

Anyway, this post got a little longer than I had originally intended, but I hope it provides value and a little more insight into the art of managing and dealing with others professionally. Again, thanks to Malcom Munro for the fine source material.