The Making Of A Good Manager – How Has This Evolved?

“THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN A FRIEND, UNLESS IT IS A FRIEND WITH CHOCOLATE” Linda Grayson

One of my first speaking engagements as an employment lawyer was at a conference headed “Managing Staff – Do the Right Thing.”  During the coffee break, one of the delegates told me that they had learnt a lot from my session.  I asked what in particular they had taken away and he said that he had understood how important it was to be friends with the staff he was managing.  I replied that I had not said that but had stressed that what was important was for managers to be firm but fair.

As is often the case with rushed conversations during coffee breaks, that is not the whole picture.  Successful managers form good relationships with the people they work with. The relationship can be divided into two categories, namely the business relationship and the person to person relationship.  However, many managers incorrectly consider that what underpins the person to person