Professional and Career Topics

ASCE's Source cites an article that asks what makes a great manager of people. (link below) The article says that, after communications skills, great people managers must have "… emotional intelligence, which is essentially the ability to understand and effectively work with feelings."

Whatever abilities translate into effective people management, are we born with those abilities or can we learn them? How can we learn them?

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William McAnally Ph.D., P.E., BC.CE, BC.NE, F.ASCE
ENGINEER
Columbus MS
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Thanks Bill.

Q1. What defines a manager as a "Great People Manager?"

Q2. Who decides that one meets that criteria?

Cheers,

Bill

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William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
Buffalo, N.Y.

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
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Bill H - 

Great management, to me, boils down to your ability to help employees feel engaged. Have they bought into the mission and values? Do they see how their role contributes to those? Do they look forward to contributing? What would it take for someone to entice them away?

I would say that, in general, who gets to decide if you are a great people manager are the people you manage. Of course there will be the occasional outlier who is underperforming with no desire to improve (so they won't like any actual management). On the whole, though, the fastest way to know what kind of manager someone is would be to ask the people who work for them.

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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-22-2024 12:36 PM
From: William Hayden
Subject: Great People Managers: Born or Created?

Thanks Bill.

Q1. What defines a manager as a "Great People Manager?"

Q2. Who decides that one meets that criteria?

Cheers,

Bill

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William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
Buffalo, N.Y.

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
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I think, from my observations, that emotional intelligence can be increased. Some people may have an advantage based on their "default" tendencies and/or the way they were raised, but with dedicated practice, I've seen people improve their emotional intelligence. 

Some actions that come to mind that could help someone increase their emotional intelligence are

-listening to understand rather than listening to respond (once we start thinking about how to "win" a discussion, we miss the rest of what is being communicated)

-asking people what they need out of an interaction (asking if they just need a listening ear or if they want suggested solutions to the problem they are telling you about)

-focusing on the person who is speaking with you (facing them, not checking your phone, etc.)

-asking the other person to explain a situation from their viewpoint instead of attributing your own assumptions of their intentions

-finding better ways to manage your own stress so you have more capacity to be patient with others

-seeking out a trusted accountability partner who can help you see your own weaknesses and areas of improvement that you may overlook in yourself

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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
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I would love to see a response from the Committee on Developing Leaders to your question. Your question is a great one; however, we often confuse management with leadership. I think the committee might be able to help us better parse the differences and better hone in on the insight your question is seeking.

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Mitch Winkler P.E.(inactive), M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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