What makes a good manager? What behavior leads to motivated, high-performing employees? How does a new manager quickly gain the respect, trust and loyalty of their employees? Leadership skills are an important prerequisite, but they must also be demonstrated with the appropriate leadership skills.

Leadership role & leadership style

Very few managers have studied psychology. Usually because they were more interested in another subject: economics, natural sciences, languages, engineering, law. Or because they were able to move up thanks to good performance instead of studying. After studying or moving up in their careers, they were well trained in their field and were happy to be working in these jobs. But then came the tempting call to become a manager, which in our society is directly associated with increased social prestige. And now, as managers, they suddenly have to deal with other people’s problems, i.e. psychological tasks. The specialist knowledge they were so proud of is suddenly no longer in such demand. Experience has shown that this change in role is difficult for many managers. All the more so because in the first management tasks there are usually technical tasks (billable expenses) to be completed in parallel. Dealing with the new role is therefore a central point in the development of a successful manager. We have developed the necessary tools for this.

Personality and appearance – personal branding

“You can’t not communicate” (Watzlawick). This makes it all the more important to know and master the communication channels – verbal and non-verbal. Often you only have a few seconds to present yourself before the people you are communicating with have already formed a positive or negative impression.

You can learn to communicate. But it is an art to use communication techniques in such a way that they seem natural and not artificial. There are big differences in communication with the public and the media (focus: rhetoric), customers (focus: negotiating skills) and your own employees (focus: openness and predictability).

Employee discussions and conflict management

The best way to manage conflict is to avoid conflicts. It is important to distinguish between natural conflicts (role conflicts, goal conflicts) and personal conflicts. Dealing with natural conflicts is a basic leadership skill: leadership begins where the goals of the stakeholders are not identical!

Such conflicts can be addressed most effectively by openly and clearly formulating goals and expectations. Empathy for the partner’s interests helps to work out fair, realistic solutions together.

More difficult are personal conflicts, which often arise from natural conflicts: disappointed expectations due to ignorance of the communication partner’s goals and values. This is where classic  conflict management  comes in. Mutual trust is rebuilt through clearly structured discussions and binding agreements. However, this path is very time-consuming and requires that both sides want to resolve the conflict. If this does not work, the only option is usually separation or transfer to another position in the company.

Problem-solving and decision-making techniques

According to Mintzberg (Mintzberg on Management, 1989), solving problems and making decisions are among the most important tasks of a leader. Decisions have to be made every day, with different meanings for the decision-maker and the company. Although we see ourselves as rational people, studies show that most decisions are made “on gut instinct” (emotionally).

Many entrepreneurs are very proud of their ability to make the right decisions based on their gut feeling. This is important and correct, as many decisions have to be made quickly and without sufficient data. However, the quality of these decisions is often overrated, because there is no comparison as to whether a different decision would not have produced even better results, and we generally remember positive decisions better than those that were wrong. It is best to forget them and write them off as “bad luck”.

Entrepreneurs and owners are relatively free in their decision-making. However, managers usually have to justify their decisions to superiors, colleagues and employees. At this point at the latest, it is worth using rational methods in order to have better arguments.

Self-management and work-life balance

In many companies, a large part of self-determined working time is lost through countless, endless and sometimes pointless meetings.

The new generation (Y) of employees in particular places great value on self-determination. This means being as efficient as possible with good working techniques so that both sides of life (work and private time) form a sensible balance. A working time analysis and, based on this, clear work planning with rules (also for employees!) can easily save 20-30% of effort.