In the video, why do managers matter? You heard that manager behavior influences employee outcomes and you might have wondered if that's only true for specific age groups, countries of origin, or other groups. Many behaviors or cultural, are the behaviors that are common to good managers and the studies cultural. For all knowledge workers, interdependency is increasing, driving the need for improved management processes and capabilities. Research on companies in India shows that more capable managing leads to higher performance and a competitive advantage for the companies within which those managers lead. Research on companies in Japan demonstrated that bosses' management and communication skills, especially having good communication with subordinates, is an essential factor in improving worker's well-being and productivity. Just as did research presented in the video, why do managers matter? Research on the Korean leadership style showed that employees whose managers build a strong and trusting relationship with them, share their creative thoughts more freely. Although in keeping with a hierarchical culture, this happens in informal gatherings outside of work rather than informal meetings. There is strong evidence that were management styles do change across culture, the skills that support the things that good managers do daily are highly similar. Styles differ because, for example, in the US, most of us know we can be laid off at anytime, while in some nations, people assume lifetime employment. In the US, the workplace might be what I'll call competitively collaborative, where a group of individuals work together to accomplish goals. In other countries, the workplace might be not only collaborative, but also feel like a collective when members are differentiated. In the US, we prefer a sense of egalitarianism, whereas many others in the world prefer to work in a distinct hierarchy. These cultural differences do tend toward different organizational structures and human resources, policies, and procedures. I encourage you to learn about these. They are beyond the scope of this course. This course will focus on the content and process of managing your style as your own. I would recommend you attempt to adapt to the style that works best for your direct reports within the culture of your specific organization, while engaging in the behaviors and activities common to good management. If you do intend to manage in a workplace that differs greatly from those in your home country or culture, I recommend strongly Professor Andy Molinsky's book, Global Dexterity, how to adapt your behavior across cultures without losing yourself in the process. Dr. Molinsky teaches how to work productively with those whose level of directness, assertiveness, formality, and other dimensions of communication differ from yours without requiring you to completely assimilate. Regardless of where you're from or where you work now you have the capacity to learn to manage well. Shaw rights that while the value of some management behaviors differs for different industries, types of managerial roles, and cultures, the managerial behaviors most influential on employee motivation and productivity are universal. These are teaching, coaching, being experts in the area, and implementing the company's vision. I cannot teach you to be an expert in your area in this course, but you will learn quite a bit about using coaching to teach, provide meaningful feedback, and implement your organization's vision, mission, values, and strategic goals. Are the things that make someone a good manager inherent traits, or are they skills we can learn, what does it take to be a good manager? People often assume it's about personality. I can think of two great managers I've had who had polar opposite personalities. The only character trait they had in common was enough confidence to get their ideas heard and therefore get promoted, and enough humility to listen to their employees ideas. I'm not so sure those are even character traits. Confidence and humility can be learned, and both can be taken to excess. According to Columbia University Professor Chamorro Premuzic, when it comes to leadership, manifestations of hubris, often masked as charisma or charm, are commonly mistaken for leadership potential, and this mistake is costly because those with excessive confidence or hubris generally do not believe they need to learn new skills. What are the skills? Google undertook a study to figure out what the best managers do on a day-to-day basis. They identified eight behaviors of high performing managers that other managers do not engage in. Coaches well, empowers the team, expresses interest in employee well-being, is results-oriented, listens and shares information, helps with career development, has a clear vision for the team, has key technical skills. The Royal Bank of Canada undertook a similar study and found that employees are more engaged when they have a good boss who coaches, gives feedback, addresses obstacles, and sets direction. Again, these are not traits, these are actions that are supported by skills that can be learned. Both Google and RBC train for these skills. They both report that not all managers succeed in the learning. Yet both companies found that the training resulted in overall managerial skill improvement. Becoming a good manager takes consistent directed practice. I've been taking dance lessons for a few years now and if there's one thing I realized is that you cannot cram in dancing. You can't learn a new move, not do it for a couple of weeks, and then the day you go dancing, practice and be able to do it well. You can learn choreography, specific steps to take, just like you can learn managerial scripts, specific things to say, of which there are many available online and you'll even get some in this course. But to have the underlying skills that make the choreo look good, to have the underlying skills that enable authentic communication, you have to create a body memory for it and that cannot be crammed. You have to practice every management skill as you learn it, continually reinforcing previously learned skills to be able to use them well. This course offers many learning opportunities, there are workbooks, discussion board questions, and journal prompts, all designed to direct your practice on the most needed skilled. Follow along with these, keep up with them each week and I will bet that as you do so, you'll see where they fit at work and how they can help you improve your management. You can learn these skills and you can manage others to produce high-quality work consistently. What do most managers actually do? How do they fit it all into their day? Watch the next videos.
