Remember that your job is to be a multiplier for your people. If you can remove a barrier, provide a valuable new perspective, or increase their confidence, then you’re enabling them to be more successful.

By defining the what and not the how, great managers/coaches give employees the autonomy to find their own way of achieving these goals.

Focus on ways to make your team’s job(s) easier — a great definition of an effective manager/coach.

Managing people is difficult because people are complex. In today’s high-pressure environments, it is very easy to get caught up in the fight for results and to forget about the complex human beings who are needed to produce them.

Whenever you have a department scream for more help, rather than throw more of the same people at the situation, try Buckingham’s approach. And before starting the “love and loathe” exercise, have your team take the inexpensive online StrengthsFinder assessment offered by Gallup (gallupstrengthscenter.com). You will get insightful reports that will serve as conversation-starters and will help your people achieve self-awareness about their strengths.