Leaders often have to juggle priorities.

What Are the Top Manager Skills New Leaders Should Develop?

ByDanny Flemings

When I was a new leader, I learned a lot of lessons about management and leadership the hard way. I did not have formal training until many years later when I earned my degree in Business Management. Everything I knew was from my time in the military, other leaders at places I worked who took the time to teach me, role models, and on the job training. Needless to say, the start of my leadership career was tough and gritty. It was still rewarding too. Why? It was rewarding because I grew. I made progress and along the way I still managed to help others around me. My reflection prompted me to share what are the top manager skills new leaders should develop.

Helping Other Leaders

That’s the purpose here at Novice Leader, to help other leaders. I make no claim to being a leadership expert just sharing my desire to be the best leader I possible can and support those that feel the same. The mission is to create a community of leaders focused on their ongoing development and provide as many resources as we can to help them (and ourselves) in that cause. Understanding that not every leader has access to training, resources, mentors, and coaches.

What are the top managers skills new leaders should develop is a topic I wish I would have considered more often in the early part of my career. I know developing certain skills early on may have prevented many of the challenges and difficulties I experienced. Hopefully this post helps many of the new leaders that read it gain the awareness, and ultimately, minimize their heartaches and obstacles.

Now, what are some top manager skills that new leaders would benefit from developing? There are many. Most I would say should be and need to be a life-long focus. They are for me because I know we are imperfect leaders leading imperfect people. Here are a few skills that novice leaders should develop.

Communication

Getting the message across to the team is vital for a manager. It takes skill to deliver a message and make sure the intent and meaning gets through accurately to the audience.  Effective communication increases productivity and reduces workplace inefficiencies. Good communication also helps build strong collaboration and partnership both inside and outside the organization.

“Effective communication sounds like it should be instinctive. But all too often, when we try to communicate with others something goes astray. We say one thing, the other person hears something else, and misunderstandings, frustration, and conflicts ensue. This can cause problems in your home, school, and work relationships.”  HelpGuide

Effective communication has multiple aspects to consider. There is oral and written communication. Both are equally important. Then there are the components of communication to develop:

  • Listening and hearing what is being communicated
  • Nonverbal communication and body language (yes, the facial expressions you make do matter!)
  • Mechanics such as grammar and spelling
  • Empathy and Confidence
  • The actual words you string together on paper or verbally

The investments you make in becoming an effective communicator will give you limitless returns professionally and personally.

Get more about communication in leadership — How Great Leaders Communicate Effectively? 

Interviewing and Hiring

Interviewing and hiring is like playing roulette. All kidding aside, having a skilled, talented, and motivated team is one of the greatest assets for a manager. When managers bring on a new employee, they never really know the type of person they will get until they are onboard. Make the wrong decision…well that’s another set of skills you will have to use to get past a bad hire. So, unless you personally know the person, you are almost (emphasis on almost) shooting in the dark when hiring new staff. But I did say “almost” and that’s where great interviewing and hiring skills can help. Managers that have developed strong hiring skills improve the chance of getting the right person to fit the culture and job being filled. Poor hiring can lead to high employee turnover costing more expense to rehire and retrain new people. Turnover also hurts efficiency and production which cuts into revenue.

“Choosing the right candidate is important for productivity and company morale. When you are able to choose the best applicants for a position, you can increase the employee retention rates and improve the success of the company.” Indeed

With the right guidance and practice, you can become an expert in hiring and reap the benefits of building a team of top talented people.

Team Building

Team building is not just hiring a bunch of folks to fill open job positions. It is about getting the most out of the people and maximizing their potential in achieving the company vision and mission as a unified force. Novice leaders often make the mistake of not making a concerted effort in advancing strong team building skills.

“…team building is the most important investment you can make for your people. It builds trust, mitigates conflict, encourages communication, and increases collaboration. Effective team building means more engaged employees, which is good for company culture and boosting the bottom line.” Brian Scudamore – Forbes

Conflict Resolution

Stay in the role as manager and leader long enough and it will happen sooner or later – CONFLICT. Having differing opinions and perspectives is good and desired. Diversity is a strength and a competitive advantage.  However, having differences can also create disagreement and conflict. Managers need to be skilled and prepared to manage the conflict, foster expression in a positive and healthy way, and negotiate a fair medium.

“It is natural for people to disagree in all kinds of settings – and they will. Disagreement is normal and healthy, but only when managed properly. Learning some de-escalation strategies and taking time to understand different perspectives can go a long way, no matter your position.” Wanda Tiefenbacher, CQ Net

Leadership

Management and leadership are not the same. They do overlap in some areas, but both are separate and unique processes. Leadership is guiding, persuading, or impressing a person or group of persons usually toward a common goal or cause. Management is defined as the act of directing, handling, or controlling the affairs of a business, institution, etc. Many new leaders make the mistake of thinking they are the same and thus not realizing the need to develop two unique skills. 

Check out the Novice Leader articles Manager vs. Leader and What is Leadership for a more detailed look at management and leadership. 

Bonus Skill Development Tips

There are plenty more skills to suggest to new leaders that would be beneficial. Enough to where this article could turn into a long novel. Here are a few more suggestions to put on your radar should you chose to explore them further

  • Project Management – The American Society for Quality defines project management as “a collection of proven techniques for proposing, planning, implementing, managing, and evaluating projects, combined with the art of managing people. It is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a broad range of activities to meet the specified requirements of a particular project.” Certifications are available and the skills obtained can be applied across numerous industries and job functions.
  • Learn a Foreign Language – The ability to speak, read, and write more than one language enhances your communication abilities and gives your career a competitive advantage.
  • Office Productivity – Become proficient in business productivity suites such as Microsoft Office 365 – This skill is almost used everywhere and makes getting work doing easier and more efficient. Why not become an expert at it?

Novice leaders, now that you are aware of some of the skill your can work on that will help take your management abilities to the next level, its time to build out your development strategy.

Take Action

Here are some methods you can use to work on improving these skills:

  • Take courses: college, online, certifications
  • Read Books on leadership
  • Read Blogs like Novice Leader
  • Watch POD Casts and videos on leadership development
Improve Your Skills

Share Your Thoughts

In the comment box below, let me know which skills stood out to you and why? If there are skills not listed you would recommend for new leaders to develop early in their career share that with us.

Be sure to visit and subscribe to the Novice Leader YouTube channel and join the Novice Leader community to stay connected and as our community grows, we will bring you more to help support your development.

Don’t Forget – You ARE the Leader you Choose to Be!

REFERENCES:

The American Society for Quality – WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT: https://asq.org/quality-resources/project-management

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