What makes a good manager? 10 best qualities explained

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management theory, says discussing what makes a great manager. 

Being a great manager is more than organizing teams and conducting performance reviews; it’s about effective leadership. A good manager nurtures growth, fosters strong relationships, is transparent and accountable, and communicates with respect.

But knowing what makes an effective manager and putting that into practice are very different things. So we’ve done the hard work for you. 

We compiled a detailed list of the top 11 qualities effective managers should have and discussed how great leaders embody these qualities. Plus, we highlighted how people enablement software can empower managers and equip them to perform at their best.

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10 qualities of a good manager

All managers have their own styles, personalities, experiences, and quirks. Yet, there are certain qualities and capabilities that all empowering leaders should aim to embody if they want to lead an engaged team that gets excellent results.
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1. Nurtures a culture of continuous feedback

A great manager works in a continuous cycle of listening, learning, and advising; this ensures that reports consistently improve and re-evaluate what’s working and what isn’t.

Studies show that professionals welcome feedback that’s delivered thoughtfully and intentionally. Gallup research found that 84% of employees who received feedback during the previous week felt engaged at work. That’s compared to just 22% of team members who hadn’t received feedback or recognition in the same week.

Using a tool like Leapsome’s Instant Feedback makes implementing a culture of continuous feedback much more straightforward. It helps automate and coordinate crucial traits of a good manager — like congratulating colleagues, celebrating wins, and offering constructive suggestions. 

Instant Feedback also helps managers make feedback more meaningful and actionable by using AI and data analytics to make quicker, better-informed decisions.
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2. Takes a collaborative approach to growth & development

A good leader doesn’t lead from the front all the time. Successful managers see themselves as part of the team — not separate from or ahead of it. They see growth and improvement as a collective initiative where everyone pulls together for one result.

“He didn’t ask for mistake-free games,” shares Carol S. Dweck about a successful coach in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, which discusses why great teams need a growth mindset. “He didn’t demand that his players never lose. He asked for full preparation and full effort…”

A growth mindset is an ideal manager trait; it considers more than the outcome, valuing the hard work and effort a team puts in on the journey to success. Similarly, a great leader is adaptable and sees mistakes or problems as part of the overall challenge, rather than an individual failing — and gets better outcomes as a result.

A tool like Leapsome’s Instant Feedback can help here, too. It gives team members a framework for exchanging praise at regular intervals (and not just at the end of a project). It also allows for more well-rounded professional growth, enabling colleagues to spur each other’s development, share private advice, and support long-term learning.

Additionally, managers can plot professional growth roadmaps for each report and create custom training pathways to help team members reach their full potential.
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3. Builds strong interpersonal relationships

Good managers know that it’s crucial to build good working relationships with all their reports to ensure that everyone excels and brings their happiest, most productive self to the table. A well-liked, respected, and trusted manager will find it much easier to work through challenging situations and get the best out of each team member.

While a group of employees might be part of the same team, they won’t all work in the same way, respond to the same incentives, or need the same support. A great manager knows and appreciates this and prioritizes getting to know their reports so they can play to everyone’s strengths.

Tools like Leapsome Reviews make this easier as managers can automate performance cycles, one-to-one meeting preparations, and 360° reviews for streamlined, productive conversations. These discussions can then feed into leadership performance reviews and managers helping reports build their own personal roadmaps for growth — strengthening trust.
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4. Takes accountability for their actions

“The first rule of leadership: everything is your fault.” So said an insect in the 1998 movie A Bug’s Life; while we wouldn't usually recommend taking managerial tips from an evil grasshopper, the screenwriters made a solid point in this case. One of the primary characteristics of a good manager is being ready to take accountability when things don’t go as planned.

Successful managers know that employees thrive when they feel psychologically safe to take risks, suggest new ideas, innovate, and push boundaries. But there’s always a possibility of failure when people make daring decisions or experiment with less-established ways of doing things. A good manager is prepared to take the fall when new team initiatives don’t work out. They also focus on the learning experience and what they’ll improve upon when they try again.

In the spirit of accountability, great leaders:

• Don’t take credit for others’ ideas
• Don’t try to escape the blame when a project or idea doesn’t work out
• Reassure team members that they won’t suffer professional consequences for trying something new — even if it isn’t a success

This level of accountability drives an atmosphere of trust and positive collaboration.

A goal-setting tool like Leapsome Goals simplifies this kind of teamwork by providing a framework for employees to create and share transparent objectives, track progress, and delegate initiatives. 
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5. Fosters a respectful, inclusive & fair environment

Another characteristic of a great manager is understanding that every employee deserves to feel respected, safe, and heard in the workplace. 

Effective leaders foster inclusive, friendly, and professional environments where team members with different experiences and backgrounds can work productively together.

This could mean: 

• Communicating and reiterating company values
• ‍Spearheading team-specific Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and running diversity surveys
• ‍Implementing a team charter and communication guidelines
• Ensuring that everyone, especially quieter employees and/or those with less experience, is encouraged to share their perspectives

In addition, managers must quash any signs of disrespect or favoritism between team members and work on their own unconscious bias; this should start before the recruitment process and continue indefinitely, even in the case of long-established teams. 
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6. Shows respect for people’s time

The best managers prioritize their reports’ time just as much as they prioritize their own; this might include:

• Setting clear meeting agendas and keeping them on track
• Ensuring they’re mentally present during one-to-one check-ins
• Never asking people to work outside their established hours or during approved PTO
• Only scheduling meetings when they’re essential
• Allowing employees to work flexible hours, as much as the project or company policies permit

Being mindful of people’s time shows respect and trust in employees’ abilities to do their jobs and plan their schedules. It also sidesteps the problems of micromanagement and unproductive conversations. 

A tool like Leapsome Meetings shines here: it enables managers to streamline agenda creation, align on and share next steps, and create post-meeting action plans — so no discussion feels like a waste of time.
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7. Is transparent about their decisions & thought processes

“Leadership requires two things: a vision of the world that doesn’t exist, and the ability to communicate it,” wrote Simon Sinek in his book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.
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Essentially, how managers communicate with their reports is critical to ensuring everyone understands the vision and can work together towards the same aims.

For example, excellent leaders should: 

• Be willing to share their decision-making steps
• Explain their options and challenges in a meeting
• Show team members that they trust their input by asking for opinions and suggestions

The more people understand why they’re doing something, the more motivated they’ll be to pitch into the how.

Leapsome Goals can help managers increase transparency by enabling teams to view goal progress and understand how everyone’s working toward objectives together. As a result, all colleagues feel like they’re part of the team and have a stake in organizational success.
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8. Knows that employees have equally important lives outside of work

Great leaders never forget that their reports are human beings with personal priorities. Although managers want employees to perform at their best and show commitment to their work, they know that someone’s “best” might vary depending on what happens at home.

As a manager who wants to respect your reports’ personal lives, consider: 

• Providing remote work arrangements
• Allowing for flexible hours
• Limiting work-related commitments (like conferences, meetings, and team-building activities) outside of normal working hours 
• Offering no-questions-asked personal days off
• Advocating for more health and well-being benefits across the organization

Good managers know there might be any number of reasons why a team member is struggling, needs support, or would benefit from a more flexible schedule — and will work with their reports accordingly.

Indeed, professionals who feel treated like people will likely stick around longer — reducing churn costs, which can amount to millions of dollars per year. A Glassdoor survey found that 87% of employees expect their employers to support them in balancing work and personal commitments — and are more likely to leave if companies don’t respect this.
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9. Listens & communicates clearly

Another great managerial trait? Truly hearing what the other person is saying. Not only is doing so a key factor of good communication, but it’s also crucial to retain top talent. 

A manager who communicates effectively might look like:

• Giving team members regular opportunities to share feedback and ideas (both anonymously and not) 
• Sharing how they’ll act on the feedback received
• Making it clear that their calendar is always open for a check-in or 1:1
  

Good listening doesn’t just mean giving the floor to someone else; it means genuinely hearing the other person out, understanding different messages, synthesizing them, and coming up with the best solution for everyone involved.

It also means creating an environment where people feel safe to speak and share ideas. A tool like Leapsome Surveys makes it easier to gather candid feedback from team members who might feel uncomfortable speaking up on the spot or in person. Our surveys feature is equipped with ready-to-use survey templates, or you can create custom questionnaires from scratch.
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10. Values employee experience & expertise

Effective managers know that the best teams are made up of diverse people with different backgrounds, training, and areas of expertise. They respect all employees’ experiences and knowledge and trust their team members to do their best work.

Great managers:

• Encourage reports who are knowledgeable about a particular topic to share with the rest of the team.
• Don’t micromanage — one Forbes article even suggested that micromanagement could be a form of bullying.
• Understand that there’s no “best” to do anything; people with different kinds of experience will favor diverse approaches, and that’s OK. 
• Ensure that their reports share their perspectives.

Leaders also advocate for their team to be fairly compensated and receive different types of recognition at regular intervals; this leads to a virtuous cycle of better outcomes. A study by workplace culture experts GreatPlaceToWork found that employees who receive recognition from management are 69% more likely to get better results.
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What makes a good manager? The tools you need to be a great one

Figuring out what makes a good manager can be complex. Managers have to deal with competing needs, work with different kinds of people, and overcome the challenges of empowering reports to do their best work — and that’s before they even work on their own deliverables.

But with a few golden rules, traits, and habits, a good manager can become a great leader, enabling continuous feedback and effective professional growth, creating strong and respectful relationships, working transparently and openly, and communicating with respect and accountability.

With employee management software like Leapsome, putting this into practice doesn’t need to be so challenging: You can spin many managerial plates in the air without overloading your to-do list or taking the risk of forgetting a crucial responsibility.

Leapsome’s suite of people enablement modules specializes in enabling feedback, setting and tracking goals, improving competencies and skills, heightening engagement and happiness, planning and actioning important meetings, reviewing employee performance, and coordinating rightful compensation.

Want to be a good manager? Become an excellent one with Leapsome.

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FAQs about what makes a good manager

What qualities and skills do managers need?

Some of the top qualities of a good manager include:

• Knowing how to cultivate an environment that supports ongoing development
• Building strong, positive professional relationships
• Consistently prioritizing transparency and accountability
• Ensuring respectful and responsible communication. 

Using HR and people enablement tools like Leapsome to empower managers to embody these qualities makes it easier to take your organization’s management team to the next level.
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What are the main characteristics of a good manager?

Some of the main characteristics of a good manager include:

• Nurturing a culture of continuous feedback
• Adopting a collaborative approach to growth and development
• Building strong professional relationships
• Taking accountability for their actions
• Respecting people’s time
• Avoiding micromanagement
• Being transparent in their decisions and thought processes
• Listening and communicating clearly