How to Lead Through Other Managers

Being the manager of a company can be a daunting, yet rewarding task.

If you are the head manager at any business, the odds are you have other managers that work underneath you. Leading through these people can be a tool that makes your business more profitable and efficient. The simple truth is these people are more valuable than gold, especially if you want a positive business environment that thrives — even under pressure.

The lead manager in any business will tell you that the list of things that need to be done in a day is virtually endless. It is impossible to get everything done without the help of your management team.

In order to make your business run the way that you want and need it to, you have to learn to lead through other managers. This may sound challenging, but quite the contrary: with a little practice and preparation, you will have a staff of managers that can run your business your like clockwork, even if you are not around that day.

Build Your Team

Leading through other managers first requires you to have a team. If you have the option, you should build your management team from the ground up. There is no reason to fret: a couple of simple rules will ensure you put together a group of individuals that will help you lead your company further than you ever imagined.

The first thing you should do is find people that you “mesh” with naturally. We have all met people we’ve instantly clicked with. These are the kind of people you are going to want to bring on board. BE AWARE: there is a difference between meshing as friends, and meshing on a business level.

Typically, someone who works well as a manager understands and honors your expectations as it relates to day-to-day operations within the business. Preferably, this person is someone who is not close friends with or in a relationship with any of your current employees. This precaution will minimize the chance of conflict of interest.

The potential managers should be reliable, clean, and hard-working. In essence, you want someone who has values that reflect and compliment your own.

Managing Through Others

Once you have a management staff that you want to utilize, you need to communicate to them clear expectations. Let them know that there are things that you are going to be looking for on a daily basis. They should understand that anything less than your expectations will not do.

Next, you need to delegate. Assign managers to positions that emphasize their strong points. For example, if you have someone who worked for 10 years as an accountant, you are going to want them to do the end-of-day money deposit and paperwork since they have an unmeasurable amount of experience in such areas.

You should consider taking some time to go down and talk to your full-time employees and let them know that you are not going to be around as much, or that there will be someone new in charge of their particular area. You do not want to drop the surprise on them and make the situation awkward for everyone — not only is it bad for business relationships, but it can also throw a wrench in productivity.

Now that all of your management team knows what is expected of them, understand their job, and have been formally introduced to the employees at some point, it is time to move on to the next step. They need to shadow you.

The process of “shadowing” involves them following you and taking notes as you do what they will soon be doing. You should have your managers shadow you for no less than a week. This will give them time to ask questions, learn about problems that could arise, and, basically, learn how to do the job the right way.

It is easy for you to sit in a boardroom and tell them what you want, but seeing it first hand is going to be the best learning tool possible, and it will help them mirror your “voice.”

Your “voice” is important because it doesn’t just reflect you, it reflects the overall attitude of the business. If the person shadowing you notices that you are loose in the way you talk, but enforce rules when they are broken, they are likely to mimic that style when they are by themselves on the job.

Day One

Fast forward — but not too far! — to the day when they are going to be taking the floor for the first time.

Your managers should already know that they need to show up a little early “just in case.” Once they arrive, give them any final notes, tips, and advice that they are going to need and then let them go and manage!

You should check around more often than you usually would during the first week to make sure everything is going smoothly. The odds are, once they are managing by themselves, questions are going to come up and they are going to be unsure of what to do. Your quick visit will be the perfect chance for them to learn what you would do in that situation so they can handle is appropriately.

Finally, you should do bi-weekly, or even monthly, “power meetings.”

During these meetings you will give them feedback on how they have done based on stats and observation. You can give them a chance to ask any questions that they might have, and, of course, give them any area of opportunities that you may have noticed. If you follow these steps, before long, you will have a staff of managers that work underneath you that get things done — the RIGHT way!

Overall, building a management team can be a time-consuming process, but one well worth it.

Once you learn how to lead through these managers, you will be able to apply these skills to virtually any business model and managers you come into contact with during your professional career.

Do YOU have any tips on how to lead through the managers working underneath you? Please feel free to share your ideas and tips on Facebook!