Manager Series: How to become the best manager you can be
In my manager series, we’ve covered the different types of managers and how to develop a core skill of good managers; growing talent. In this final part, I’d like to take a more personal lens to being a manager by focusing on three key aspects of great leadership: boundaries, vulnerability, and integrity.
While most commonly associated with our personal relationships, these elements are essential in our professional lives, especially for leaders. They are mentors, managers, and shape entire teams so their ability to develop effective, trusting relationships is vital to their success in those roles. Here’s a look at each one of these skills and more about how you can cultivate them!
Boundaries
“You get what you create and you get what you allow.”
– Dr. Henry Cloud highlights in Boundaries for Leaders
For a relationship to function properly, you need boundaries. They make for stronger leaders and are an essential element of trust. It’s especially important for leaders to lead by example when it comes to setting and enforcing boundaries because when you communicate your boundaries, you let others know it’s okay to do the same, creating healthy guardrails for a healthy relationship.
Examples of this are:
Setting and respecting boundaries, yours and others’
Unplugging from work and taking vacation time
Only committing to the tasks you have time or capacity for
Being aware of and respecting limitations and capacities and delegating the rest
Establishing schedules and clear expectations
Vulnerability
“Vulnerability minus boundaries is not vulnerability.”
— Brené Browne
A recent Harvard Business Review article found that the best leaders aren’t afraid to be vulnerable. While “vulnerability” in the workplace traditionally had a bad reputation, as we adapt to the future of work, it has become a vital ingredient in well-functioning work relationships. Today, vulnerability isn’t only accepted, it’s encouraged.
Vulnerability also creates psychologically safe work environments that allow people to be themselves at work. That authenticity empowers them to “take creative risks, share their perspectives without fear of a consequence, and make valuable contributions that can only be expressed within a culture that values trust and inclusion.” Some examples of workplace vulnerability are:
Admitting your mistakes
Sharing personal challenges and failures
Practicing self-awareness
Acknowledging when you’re overwhelmed
Proactively seeking feedback from your team
Integrity
“Integrity is the essence of everything successful.”
— R. Buckminster Fuller
From cultivating an open and positive work environment to honoring our commitments and keeping our word, integrity in the workplace benefits employers and employees. To foster strong and resilient teams, integrity in the workplace can look like:
Taking a bigger lens including workplace ethics and hiring practices
Being a role model for your team, especially junior employees
Demonstrating reliability and trustworthiness
Taking accountability for your actions
Communicating honestly and openly
The balance we’re aiming to create with mastering these skills isn’t just about you and your team, it’s also related to other managers and leadership in general. Nurturing those relationships is important and can be done just by setting up a coffee to create time for face-to-face interactions and vital relationship building.
The beauty of mastering the art of boundaries, vulnerability, and integrity is that they make all aspects of our lives better. Personal relationships are more fulfilling, the demands of daily life feel more stress free, and we get closer to our most authentic selves. Ready to get started with some personal coaching to get you there?