10 Traits Every Manager Needs to Succeed in 2021

It is no secret that a good manager is one who can make all the difference and managing a team or a firm can be a demanding job with a lot of responsibility. They make the organization go above its weight in its performance.

The  COVID-19 outbreak has introduced many unique challenges in the business environment, organizations are now faced with multiple challenges and this had a significant impact on the role of the manager.

To ensure business continuity in challenging times, managers need to adapt.

They have to ensure they know the talent, the characteristics, and the niche skill sets needed to navigate the future of business.

A new year means new goals, objectives and more responsibility. It then becomes undeniably challenging to make sure that your team keeps up with deliverables and possibly improve performance.

Whether you're working remotely or not, everyone has had a fair share of the sourness of the pandemic and companies are looking to overturn the experience business-wise. How does the manager keep up with management demands and keep the team hungry?

In this article, you’ll learn 10 essential traits a manager must imbibe to survive and thrive in the post-pandemic environment.

1. Be Empathetic 
2. Commit to Self Improvement
3. Be Versatile in Communication
4. Be People-Centric 
5. Imbibe A Global Approach
6. Have A Strong Focus
7. Adapt (Be Flexible)
8. Have a Desire to Change
9. Be Proactive
10. Be A Good Mentor

Be Empathetic
In a 2019 Harvard Business Review article, Stanford Professor Jamil Zaki (author of The War For Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World) talks about the relationship between empathy and leadership. He stated that it’s not just that leaders are empathetic; they foster empathy. That’s important because people conform to other’s good and kind behaviours. In other words, empathy is contagious.

If employees are drowning in work and 70% of them feel like they are, according to our research managers need to be understanding. They need to be able to put themselves into their staff’s shoes and imagine what it’s like to do their jobs.

Managers must understand the importance of empathy. When managers don’t listen to their employees and understand where they are coming from, bad things like workers leaving your company or losing your trust can happen.

In fact, a whopping 91% of CEOs can see the link between this often overlooked trait and their organization’s financial performance.


Commit to Self Improvement
A critical trait for business managers, in general, is being open to building and developing new skills.

In the post-pandemic era, that will be even more crucial considering the challenges mentioned earlier.

One of the main pain points of business managers in 2021 is surely going to be how to maintain a successful workforce. The biggest challenge is put in front of those managers whose organization has shifted to remote working or hybrid working solutions.

To ensure their employees’ productivity, business managers must consider how their management style could be adapted to support employees through times of change and disruption.


Be Versatile in Communication
In 2021, managers may have to shift their communication style in light of the changes the pandemic has introduced. Remote working, for example, means that managers will need to communicate virtually with their team.

And without body language which plays a big role in communications everywhere, managers will need to be more versatile in their communication style. 

Few things can help you in sending the right message no matter which communication style you are using:

• Be clear and concise.
• Be positive and constructive.
• Use all available channels.
• Ask for feedback.

An ability to use proper communication in your workplace will help managers communicate effectively during change.


Be People-Centric 
Business managers today shouldn’t be results-driven. They should be experience-driven.


While results are still important if a business doesn’t have engaged people, what does it have?

Employee uncertainty has been – and continues to be — a big concern. Employees may feel nervous about the future of their role or the future of the company. Or they may lack the confidence to work in new ways.

An important trait for managers to have is building a new, people-centric way of working. This means putting the workforce at the heart of everything and working to build, develop, and maintain a strong and resilient team that has what it takes to adapt to change.

Putting employees first could mean:

• Introducing new technologies that make the day-to-day working life easier.
• Improving processes so that work can be carried out more efficiently and effectively.
• Automating some of the more predictable tasks to free up valuable time.
• Ensuring there is excellent support in place for both mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Here are the main benefits of a people-centric workplace

• When your employees are happy and thriving, your productivity will too.
• Satisfied employees will want to contribute more to your organization.
• A positive approach to work will result in delighted customers and more revenue.
• Ultimately, listening and recognizing the needs of employees will help to drive improved results.

Imbibe A Global Approach
Now that businesses are using more digital technologies, they can easily engage with clients and customers across the world. And so, to succeed in 2021 and the future, business managers must be able to shift from localized business to international business on a truly global scale.

The business manager of tomorrow must understand the skills needed to conduct business across borders or be willing to learn.

Critical skills for international business include:

• A ‘big picture’ approach, looking at a business beyond local limitations.
• Innovative thinking to design new strategies for new markets.
• An awareness of the importance of cultural differences and how this affects messaging.
• A global approach can help the business during challenging times. But it can help managers, too. It’s all part of self-improvement, opening up doors to new career opportunities in the future

Have A Strong Focus
In addition to the challenges already discussed, the pandemic has also introduced concerns such as:

• Leading and managing hybrids teams of both on-site and remote workers.
• The need to adapt processes based on changing customer behaviours.
• Identifying new COVID-secure opportunities for growth and development.

It’s not surprising that many managers are already finding that they are busier than ever. And with so much going on, a critical trait to have is the desire to develop a strong focus.

A strong focus will enable managers to adapt to the new business landscape and overcome challenges without losing sight of the core business and the underlying aims, goals, and missions.

Some good ways to develop a strong focus at work include:

• Organizing similar tasks into the same category, so one area can be focused on at a time.
• Planning the workday so that there’s no need flit from task to task.
• Developing a flexible, agile approach that can be adapted without losing sight of results.

An ability to focus on exactly what’s needed, when it’s needed, can minimize errors and improve oversight.


Adapt (Be Flexible)
All good managers must be flexible and adaptable. Managers who think they know everything better than anyone else in their organization are likely to fail. The best managers learn from others and adapt their plans to changing circumstances.

They have the ability to pivot when necessary, but also lead by sticking with core values. 

Have a Desire to Change
It’s one thing to understand the need to change. It’s another to have the desire to change.

Especially for business managers who may have been in the game for some time, it can be difficult to move away from those tried-and-tested practices that have got them to where they are today.

Why is a desire to change important?

Because teams aren’t always going to like what’s happening. To get them onboard, business managers must lead by example. They must be OK with change if they want their teams to be OK with change.

By possessing an ability to adapt and a desire to change, managers can act as real-life proof of the benefits of implementing new ways of working.

Leaders with strong adaptability skills are prone to be more successful because they:

• See failure as a chance to improve.
• Are creative, resilient, and always ready to respond to a challenge.
• Are willing to take risks and deal with the consequences.
• Handle new work processes and technology efficiently.
• Are open to a different point of view.

Having the confidence to be implementers and advocators of change is essential in developing an organization powered by people committed to achieving great things.

Be Proactive
Being proactive means controlling a situation by inducing something to occur instead of responding to it after the fact. When applied to business, this means that the owner, particularly small business owners, do not wait for success to land at their doorstep.

Instead, they face the expected challenges ahead of time. They take the needed precautions to minimize risks but plan business strategies that will help them reach their goals.

A proactive management technique can improve all aspects of a business.



Be A Good Mentor
Even though business managers’ main focus is productivity and revenue, they also need to know how to share their knowledge and experience.

Mentoring skills are crucial when onboarding new employees or advising existing staff on organizational changes and implementing new procedures.

To be a good mentor, you have to:

• Take a strategic approach to mentorship — identify your goals and the time you need to achieve them.
• Be consistent — create a schedule for providing regular feedback.
• Be positive — offer help and encouragement to new employees during their onboarding process.

Mentoring and onboarding skills are crucial assets for any highly successful organization. 



References: Wundef, Proofhub, Careermetis