I spend a fair amount of time thinking and contemplating what it means to be a good leader. I came across Penelope Trunk’s blog post, “How to be a Good Manager: Be Generous” and have to say I agree with a majority of her points and have learned a lot of what it means to be a good leader.
One of her points that really stood out to me was that you should always prepare an agenda prior to a meeting. I found her reasoning behind it interesting as it was a perspective I’ve never thought about before. She stated that by preparing an agenda, it shows that you care and are respectful of their time. Prior to reading this, I had thought that the purpose of an agenda was to ensure the manager was organized in order to run a smooth meeting for their sake; I had never thought about it from an employee’s perspective.
Another point I found valuable is that as a manager, you should be popping up all the time to check in, not to micromanage or because you don’t trust those around you. You should be checking in because you genuinely care about how they’re doing. I thought that this was crucial as well due since I know that employees are much more likely to cooperate or feel a need to put effort forth if the management team makes it seem like they matter.
Lastly, I thought that her comparison with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was a smart way to compare a job to. First you have to have the basics and then you try your best to help others. It was an interesting comparison as it’s something that you wouldn’t think to compare it to but it makes sense and it’s relateable as we know what we need to live. In order to help others, you’d have to satisfy your own needs, that goes for both your personal and work life.
After reading her blog, my mind regarding management has opened up and I see that there’s much more to being a good leader than doing what is assigned. You have to go above and beyond to make your team feel like they matter if you want them to truly care about their work.
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