Google, I’m sure you will agree, is a business built on metrics and analytics. Well, they recently completed an comprehensive, rigorous internal study about what made great managers…at Google. The New York Times article says that Google wanted to build better bosses. Now, that certainly strikes a positive chord for me and boy does it sound familiar too…:-)
After all the sexy compilations and machinations of the data, the company came up with eight elements. They called them the “Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers”: (parentheses below contain my own comments)
- Be a good coach (frequent meetings, involving balanced, useful feedback)
- Empower your team (vs. micromanaging them)
- Show interest in employees’ success and well-being (ah, that would be genuine interest, by the way)
- Be productive and results-oriented (i.e. the soft skills approach coexists with hard results)
- Be a good communicator and listen to your team (the flow goes both ways–frequently and authentically)
- Help employees with their career development (do you see a connection with #3?)
- Have a clear vision and strategy for the the team (this one makes every list)
- Have key technical skills, enough to advise the team (i.e. you don’t have to be a geek yourself)
What strikes me is that in such a technical environment the technical skills component of a good leader is not a heavy one. It barely makes the list, at number 8.
Scanning the list, I pick up a theme of connection and involvement with staff, without being terribly directive, except around vision and strategy. In addition, it confirms the importance of a manager’s role as a coach.
We simply must hold our managers accountable for the ongoing coaching relationship with their employees. This means,
- giving these activities sufficient weight and rewards in your performance management process
- teaching your managers how to coach
- freeing up enough time from other immediate demands on their attention to allow them to exercise the role
Heck, if it’s good enough for Google…