I was thrilled when author, entrepreneur, and fellow management consultant Greg Blencoe called me and asked me to preview his new book, The Supermanager. The end product is a short story about an extremely successful manager imparting his wisdom to a recent college graduate who has entered a large electronics company’s management training program.

This “super manager”, who runs a local retail business, has been managing people for years and consistently has highly productive, motivated and happy employees. He distilled his methods for successfully managing people into the following seven principles that he shared with the management trainee over the course of several one-on-one sessions.

The seven principles of Supermanager

#1: Surround yourself with high-quality employees

• The people you hire are EXTREMELY important
• Define exactly what you want in an employee
• Look everywhere for high-quality employees
• Hire for attitude, train for skill

Ultimately, most of what you as a manager can accomplish is through your employees. So the only way for you to succeed is to make them successful.

#2: Train employees well

• Remember what it’s like to be a new employee who needs training
• Be encouraged to ask lots of questions
• Explain the big picture to employees.
• Continue to share information with experienced employees

When employees start a new job, the experience is a lot like someone trying to walk through a room that is pitch black. Part of your job as a manager is to “turn on the light” for employees: train them to the point where they can do the job well themselves.

#3: Communicate the end result you want, then train employees to achieve it

• The manager’s role is to get things done through other people.
• Employees must be trained before they can be empowered
• Hold employees accountable by confronting unproductive behavior

Once the initial training period is basically over, you want to train employees to do the job on their own. However, in doing this, a manager must tailor his style and methods according to the abilities and experience of each employee.

#4: Lead by example

• The most effective way to teach employees how to act is through their own example.
• When you want employees to act a certain way, apply that standard to yourself and think about how well you meet it.

You should not ask your employees to do anything that you are not willing to do yourself. If you do, then you are in for an uphill battle. Managers should not use the line “Do what I say, not what I do.”

#5: Listen to employees

• discover problems
• Get employee suggestions

Being a good listener is one of the key skills of an effective manager. Listening to employees’ ideas can be a tremendous morale boost for them and communicates that you value what they have to say. But let them know up front that you may have to agree to disagree with some of their ideas.

#6: Praise good work

• Positive reinforcement of actions usually causes those actions to be repeated.
• Recognize the good work done by all employees.
• Celebrate employee birthdays (and/or other important milestones)

Sam Walton said that “Nothing else can completely replace a few well-chosen, timely, and sincere words of praise. They are absolutely free and worth a fortune.” Take steps to show that you appreciate their good work and that you care about your employee as a person.

#7: Manage each employee differently

• Employees have different skills, needs, and preferences.
• Take a personalized approach with each employee to make them as productive as possible.

Would you use just one tool from your toolbox or one utensil in the kitchen? Just like you shouldn’t play a round of golf with just one club, you shouldn’t try to manage all employees the same way. Mary Kay Ash said:We are all different. A good manager will recognize these differences and treat each person as an individual.“

Learn and incorporate these seven principles into your management practices and you will go a long way in becoming a highly effective manager.

Thanks Greg for including me in an initial “peek” of this book, and I look forward to the next one.