
Five Behaviors That Can Make You a Manager
Are you aiming to climb the career ladder and secure a managerial role? Mastering these specific five behaviors is crucial to making this transition from an individual contributor to a manager. This article explores five foundational behaviors that are essential for anyone looking to advance into management.

Reliability and Responsibility
Dependability at Work
The first of the five behaviors essential for managers is demonstrating dependability at work, which lays the foundation for trust and reliability in a leadership role.
Becoming the backbone of your team starts with consistency in delivering quality work and punctuality. Positive behaviors in this domain include proactive problem-solving, adhering to deadlines, and maintaining transparency with your team and management about project statuses. On the flip side, dysfunctional behaviors such as frequently missing deadlines, withholding information, or failing to meet established quality standards can significantly jeopardize your chances for a promotion. Managers value employees who can be trusted to follow through without constant supervision, reflecting a readiness for greater responsibilities.
Effective Communication
Speak and Listen Effectively
The second of the five behaviors that can make you a manager involves mastering effective communication, a skill critical to bridging gaps and fostering clear understanding across an organization.
Effective communication is crucial in bridging gaps between various stakeholders and ensuring mutual understanding. Positive behaviors include active listening, which involves giving full attention to speakers and thoughtfully responding. It also involves clarity in your communication, whether it’s giving instructions, providing feedback, or presenting ideas. Conversely, dysfunctional behaviors such as ignoring inputs from others, frequently interrupting during meetings, or failing to provide clear guidance can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts, diminishing your effectiveness as a potential leader.
Team Collaboration
Foster Team Success
Encouraging a collaborative environment means promoting inclusivity and ensuring every team member feels valued. Positive behaviors include recognizing the efforts of others, facilitating teamwork through cooperative tasks, and supporting colleagues in achieving shared goals. On the other hand, dysfunctional behaviors such as taking credit for others’ work, creating cliques that exclude certain members, or consistently dominating team discussions can erode trust and cooperation within the team, showing a lack of leadership qualities essential for managerial roles.
Strategic Thinking
See the Bigger Picture
Strategic thinking involves understanding the broader business context and aligning your team’s efforts with the organization’s goals. Positive behaviors include the ability to forecast potential challenges and opportunities, and developing innovative solutions that advance the organization. Dysfunctional behaviors, however, such as focusing only on short-term gains, resisting change, or failing to consider the wider impact of decisions, can signal a lack of vision and hinder your potential to move into a leadership position.
Leadership Development
Inspire and Mentor
True leadership is demonstrated through your ability to inspire and develop others. Positive behaviors include providing constructive feedback, mentoring team members, and fostering an environment that encourages professional growth and learning. Dysfunctional behaviors, such as neglecting the development needs of your team, showing favouritism, or failing to recognize and reward significant contributions, can stifle team morale and innovation, severely impacting your suitability for leadership roles.
In each of these areas, cultivating the positive behaviors and minimizing the dysfunctional ones will not only make you a prime candidate for promotions but will also enhance the overall effectiveness and harmony of your team.
Transition to Management with Strengthscape
Transitioning into a managerial role involves more than just mastering key skills—it requires structured guidance and support. Strengthscape’s First Time Manager Training is designed to help new managers like you develop these critical behaviors systematically. Our program covers everything from effective communication and strategic thinking to leadership development, ensuring you not only assume the role of a manager but also excel in it.
By participating in our training, you will learn how to apply these behaviors in real-world scenarios, enabling you to lead with confidence and drive your team to achieve greater success. Strengthscape’s commitment to using evidence-based training methodologies ensures that you receive the most current and effective guidance available, helping you navigate your new responsibilities with ease and effectiveness.
Call to Action
Are you ready to step up and lead? Join Strengthscape’s First Time Manager Training to unlock your leadership potential and smoothly transition into your new managerial role. Contact us today to begin your journey to successful management.
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