As a manager, you are judged on your team’s outcomes, so your job is to do whatever most helps them succeed. If your team is lacking key skills, then you need to spend your time training or hiring. If someone is creating problems for others, then you need to get him to stop. If people don’t know what they should be doing, then you need to construct a plan. A lot of this work is unglamorous. But because it’s important, it must be done, and if nobody else does it, then it falls to you.

This is why adaptability is a key trait of great managers. As your team changes—whether it’s goals shifting, people joining or leaving, or processes evolving—what you do every day will also change.

Leadership is a quality rather than a job. We are all leaders and followers at different points in our lives. Many aspects of this book should be useful to those looking to grow as leaders as well as managers, and great managers should cultivate leadership not just in themselves but also within their teams.

This is an important distinction because while the role of a manager can be given to someone (or taken away), leadership is not something that can be bestowed. It must be earned. People must want to follow you.

In retaining employees and keeping them engaged, we’ll cover the five activities of great (vs. good) managers (we prefer the term “coaches” — more on this later):

• Help people play to their strengths.

• Don’t demotivate; dehassle.

• Set clear expectations and give employees a clear line of sight.

• Give recognition and show appreciation.

• Hire fewer people, but pay them more (frontline employees, not top leaders!).

5: THE MANAGERS (COACHES)

“People join companies. They leave managers. Therefore, to keep your team happy and engaged, you need one thing above all else: great managers/coaches — not free lunches or yoga classes! As Gallup notes, “Managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores.

During our research, we asked leaders which actions they rated are the most important for getting off to the right start. Topping the list were five items:

1. Absorb information.

2. Define the company’s challenges.

3. Establish credibility and win employees’ trust.

4. Access the senior management team.

5. Prepare yourself emotionally.