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Using the analogy of a bus as a business, starting from point A and going to point B, Jim Collins in his best seller Good to Great states that any organization that wants to improve itself should start by getting the right people on the bus and the wrong people off of it.

The owner of a business would be wise to heed Collins when he says “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” It makes sense when considering that many owners have visions of grandeur and then get frustrated because they do not have the people on their team that will help them get to the goal.

In many industries, having strong employees is the only vehicle for success. The owner has to plan to build an exceptional team at the outset. It means taking a leap of faith and bringing people on board who may know more, may have more experience and expertise in specific subjects, and may be strong enough to challenge the ideas and plans of the owner. For many owners, those thoughts are downright scary.

Years ago a skeptical reporter asked a presidential candidate how he would insure success if he was elected. The candidate’s reply was, “Surround myself with the very best possible people, listen to them and then get out of their way and let them do what they are on the payroll do to.”

Hiring strong employees requires considerably less work once they are on the job. Strong employees are, by nature, self motivated, demonstrate initiative and are risk takers. While the owner might counter that with a comment about the nature of the risk (as in, in the end, it becomes the financial and legal responsibility of the owner if things don’t work out) the reality is that strong employees feel that the company is theirs just as much it is the owners. And a strong employee is certainly more concerned about the success of the organization than those who are less engaged.

Collins writes of the five levels of leadership. At the lowest level is the highly capable individual, who makes productive contributions using their talents, knowledge, skills and demonstrates good work habits. At Level Two, the individual becomes a contributing team member, working to advance group objectives and effectively working with others in a team setting. Level 3 individuals are competent managers, organizing people and resources toward effective and efficient pursuit of pre-determined objectives. The fourth level is that of an effective leader, someone committed to the vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance of those around them, including those that report to them and those that do not. At Level 5, the individual has developed to a genuine executive, a person who is building greatness through a combination of personal humility and professional will.

Scientific research suggests that the single most important determinant of individual performance is a person’s relationship with his or her immediate manager. It just doesn’t matter much where the job is; Fortune 500 firm, local nonprofit, small business or at city hall. Lacking a strong relationship with a manager that sets clear expectations, that is trusting, understands strengths and weaknesses and is willing to make an investment so that performance improves, an employee is likely to perform, let alone stay.

However, managers are not usually held in high regard. Unfortunately, this country is CEO obsessed. The pictures on the cover of Fortune, Forbes and Inc. magazines are of “hard-charging heroes and visionaries.”

But when it comes to getting the most out of everyone in the company, the most critical role is that of the manager. More often than not, managers are seen as costs to be cut – overhead.

When someone is terminated or leaves the company, the manager is assumed to step in and handle the additional work until a replacement is found, if the position is to be filled at all.

Here are seven ways that a manager can become more effective in their day to day roles and prove their value to those that they supervise and those that they report to.

Start working with all of your direct reports. Don’t ignore those that you don’t like or can’t see eye to eye with; those issues should not come into play when managing someone. Spend more time with your best people simply because they are more productive and require less supervision but can benefit from coaching, which is how the time should be spent. As for the rest, spend that time counseling them as to how they can improve. Put an action plan into place for each individual and hold them accountable for meeting deadlines.

Learn the strengths of all of your people. People want to use their strengths simply because it makes them feel better; it engages them and encourages them to be better at what they are being paid to do. When your direct reports are engaged, managing them becomes less of an issue. If people have strengths but there is no effective way to utilize them in your department, it might be time to see if there are other places better suited to take advantage of what they have to offer. Help people become more of who they already are.

Don’t be afraid to discipline people who violate standards, policies and procedures. Organizations don’t create rules and guidelines in a vacuum, they are created for a reason, and supervisors have jobs to enforce company policy. When someone operates outside of what has been established, the supervisor needs to call the employee on that specific issue as soon as possible. If policies don’t exist, recommend that they be created. If those at higher levels of the organization ignore or break policies that apply to all employees, step up and mention that those that lead best lead by example.

Over communicate in all that you do. There is a disease that most employees have, at every level. This disease might never be cured, but daily doses can limit its spread. The symptoms are numerous, often surfacing through whining, complaining and shock with a dose of indignation. The disease is NETMA, which means No one Ever Tells Me Anything. Do your direct reports have this disease? It is likely that they do, which means that every important message, deadline and event must be repeated, time and time again, just in case someone might have the disease that particular day.

Understand the role of the supervisor is not to be a technical expert. All too often people are promoted to a position to supervise others because they are the best technically in a field. Horror stories abound of the best selling sales person who becomes the worst possible sales manager. Or the best engineer who is promoted to manager, and fails miserably. The skills needed in a technical role are far different than those needed in a supervisory position. Supervising is all about getting work done through the efforts of others instead of personally doing it.

The supervisor is the bridge between leadership and those that do the actually tasks required for the organization to serve clients. It is critical for a supervisor to understand the larger picture of what is taking place and will take place in their organization, and make the translation for direct reports. The supervisor, more than anyone else, needs to be clear when communicating that direct reports have a WIIFM mindset…what’s in it for me?

Meet regularly with each direct report and take the time to ask these six important questions…Do you know what is expected of you at work? Do you have the materials and equipment that you need in order to do your work right? At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day? In the past seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work? Do I, as your supervisor, or someone else here at work, seem to care about you as a person? Is there someone at work who encourages your development? The answers are a mini-performance appraisal for both the supervisor and the direct report.

An excellent resource for managers at every level is Marcus Buckingham’s best selling book “First, Break All The Rules.”

Here is a question for every manager, supervisor and lead: How soon can you start asking the six critical questions to your direct reports?

Cast Parts

Last Friday, I turned in my resignation notice after four years of employment with this company.

My decision was not a hard one, as many problems have transpired during the time that I have been here. Still, you asked me to reconsider my decision because you felt that I was making a mistake and would benefit from staying with the manufacturing company.

It has been said that people do not quit companies—they quit their bosses. In this case, I believe that you quit being my boss a couple of years ago.

Please let me provide you with the specific reasons I am leaving so that you might be aware of them, and perhaps even address them before others leave. Some people have already left the company due to layoffs, while others have resigned to pursue other opportunities.

The department in which I work has been downsized from 12 to 3 people in the last year, and everyone is anticipating more layoffs if the economy and company sales do not improve.

As a result of the layoffs, I have been doing the essential work of those that departed. While I understand that the company does not need as many people when sales have decreased, it would also be nice if the workload was reduced proportionately.

Unfortunately, I am now working long days and nearly every weekend. Because I am an exempt employee, this extra time is not compensated over and above my normal salary.