The Connector Manager

Book excerpt: There are four distinct types of managers. One performs much worse than the rest, and one performs far better. Which type are you? Based on a first-of-its-kind, wide-ranging global study of over 9,000 people, analysts at the global research and advisory firm Gartner were able to classify all managers into one of four types: Teacher managers, who develop employees' skills based on their own expertise and direct their development along a similar track to their own. Cheerleader managers, who give positive feedback while taking a general hands-off approach to employee development. Always-on managers, who provide constant, frequent feedback and coaching on all aspects of the employee's performance. Connector managers, who provide feedback in their area of expertise while connecting employees to others in the team or organization who are better suited to address specific needs. Although the four types of managers are more or less evenly distributed, the Connector manager consistently outperforms the others by a significant margin. Meanwhile, Always-on managers tend to see their employees struggle to grow within the organization. Why is that? Drawing on their groundbreaking data-driven research, as well as in-depth case studies and extensive interviews with managers and employees at companies like IBM, Accenture, and eBay, the authors show what behaviors define a Connector manager, and why they are able to build powerhouse teams. They also show why other types of managers fail to be equally effective, and how they can incorporate behaviors of Connector managers in order to be more effective at building teams.