As a military spouse, a huge part of my life has been moving from duty station to duty station following my husband’s job. While I loved traveling to new states and meeting new people, these moves were not great for me in growing my career.

My life became a series of “always a coordinator, never a manager,” and by the time I worked enough in a position to where I was ready to promote–it was time to move again.

While this isn’t a pity party about my constant moves, I’m just pointing out that while I desperately wanted to be a manager more than anything, I spent almost a decade as a coordinator first.

For over ten years, I soaked up as much knowledge about leadership and project management as possible to have the tools to be an effective manager when my time came.

While my trajectory from coordinator to manager might have taken longer than most, I learned so much along the way. Effective management requires hard work, skill, charisma, and dedication. In this article, we will talk about a good manager I’ve had, one of the bad ones, and what manager effectiveness truly means in the workplace today.

Having the title of “manager” does not make someone an effective manager.

Take a moment and say this out loud:

“Having a manager title does not make someone an effective manager.”

This is an important statement because I have seen many people in positions of authority who did not possess the necessary skills to be effective. These people might have had the title but needed more heart and soul to be effective managers.

Being an effective manager requires more than just having a title or position. It takes leadership, communication, and a willingness to support and empower your team. The best managers I’ve had were those who understood this and worked to build a positive and productive work environment and practiced what they preached. 

Qualities that make an effective manager

An effective manager must possess certain qualities to make them successful. These include:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Time management
• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Empathy
• Strategic thinking

Leadership: A manager must have strong leadership skills to guide and motivate their team toward success. They should be able to set clear goals, communicate effectively, and inspire their team to achieve their best work.

Communication: An effective manager must be able to communicate with the team. Managers must be able to clearly convey instructions, provide feedback, and resolve conflicts to keep the team on track.

Time management: A manager should have excellent time management skills to prioritize tasks and set and meet team deadlines. However, excellent managers do not micromanagers with time tracking platforms but give their teams the flexibility to manage their projects as they see fit.

Adaptability: Effective managers should respond to changing circumstances and adjust their plans accordingly. While there should always be a work-life balance, a successful manager can help the team when needed and step up to the plate if required.

Problem-solving: Managers should possess strong problem-solving skills to identify and resolve issues that arise in the workplace. Effective managers can analyze situations, develop solutions, and implement effective strategies.

Empathy: Nobody wants a robot manager. We want managers who understand and empathize with the team. This is more than “take the rest of the Friday off” but listening to teams’ concerns, offering support, and addressing problems with actionable solutions.

Strategic thinking: Managers should have strong strategic thinking skills to develop plans and initiatives that align with the company’s goals and objectives. Managers need to think of the long-term scope of a business and should be able to identify opportunities for growth for the company and the team who reports to them.

A real-life example of an effective manager

In my coordinator days, I worked at a casino in Atlantic City, running special events.

My manager at the time was named Jennifer. She was, and still is, the best and most effective manager I’ve ever had, and here are a few reasons why she was:

1. She gave clear direction: Jennifer could explain any task with all its intricacies so everyone on the team knew what they needed to do and why.

2. She set expectations ahead of time: Jennifer told us exactly what she expected from us regarding results and deadlines before we started a project.

3. She was organized: No matter how chaotic things got at our special events, she always had an overview of our situation – where we were, where we should be headed next, etc. Nothing got past her, and she was an absolute wiz at Excel.

4. She checked in often: We could count on her periodic updates throughout the day or week to know how things were progressing and if any adjustments needed to be made.

5. She was committed: She would always come in and help whenever we needed it. If our team was stressed out or worried about an upcoming event–she would show up and lend a hand.

Jennifer was my manager back in 2008. Back then, I knew that she was an excellent manager. I knew that she had the skills and charisma, and that was something that made her effective.

Having someone in your life who is effective can genuinely change your career trajectory. Being led by a good, effective manager was extremely helpful for me as an employee because I could see what good leadership looked like. I had an example to follow, and she set the bar pretty darn high.

I wasn’t wrong about her skills as an effective manager because she now holds the seat as the Regional Vice President of Marketing for Caesars Entertainment Corporation. 

So, clearly, others thought her management was and is exceptional.

A real-life example of a non-effective manager

I hate that I’ve had ineffective managers. Fortunately, I’ve had more effective managers than ineffective ones, but it’s from those who lack project management skills or goal-setting tactics that we learn what not to do.

This manager story came from my marketing agency days as a marketing coordinator. I had a direct report, Anne, who was my manager, and I had looked up to her for leadership skills and expertise, but unfortunately, she was highly ineffective, and there are some reasons why:

1. A lack of communication skills: Anne would give vague instructions, making it difficult to understand what she meant. When I asked for clarification, she would get frustrated and dismiss us, telling us to “just figure it out.”

2. She was disorganized: Anne never had a plan and was all over the place. In addition, she often changed her mind and switched priorities, which caused confusion among the team.

3. She didn’t understand the company: Anne was not fully in-tune with the direction or strategy of the company. She was not strategic, and often her direction would completely contradict the company’s long-term goals.

4. No sense of direction: There was no clear goal or vision for our team, leaving us feeling like we were just spinning our wheels. It was challenging to stay motivated and focused on our work without a sense of purpose.

5. No accountability: Anne never took responsibility for her actions and never admitted to making mistakes. Instead, she always found someone else to blame, which was insanely toxic and made for an uncomfortable work environment.

I knew that Anne was a bad manager because I had just come from an exceptional manager: Jennifer. So when I was being directed poorly, I could easily see the difference between an effective and supportive manager vs. a scattered, combative manager.

Anne was eventually let go, and I was promoted to her position as manager. (Coordinator no more!)

Anne eventually quit marketing and retired to spend time with her family. She once told me that she “wasn’t cut out for this type of work,” which made me think that being an effective manager is more than just “being good at your job,” but it’s about being passionate and wanting to be there.