The 25 Micro-Habits of High-Impact Managers

Management can at times seem like staring down a large block of marble — an intimidating task that requires the right tools. And in our experience, most management advice tends to focus on tackling the biggest chunks: assembling high-performing teams through hiring, delivering tough feedback and checking in regularly. Of course, holding regular 1:1 meetings and honest performance reviews are critical items on your manager checklist to get right — but sculpting a magnificent piece of art also relies on the finer chiseling work of shaping that rock, bit by bit. After all, it’s the smallest movements and the intricate detail work that makes a statue worthy of display in a museum. However, this tends to be overlooked.

“The signs that you have a great manager are the actions you don't think about until later. Part of a weekly conversation where they stop and listen to the team, waiting until everyone's had a chance to share their thoughts. Or the way they pull you into conversations with support, knowing you might be taking a risk, but they always have your back. Even just the occasional overshare about their own lives to show you're all human,” says Michael Kellar, Senior Product Manager at Corvus Insurance.

It got us thinking — what are the little daily habits that often go unnoticed, but when linked together add up to form an incredibly strong chain between manager and direct report? To that end, we spent the past few weeks reaching out to folks all across the First Round community for their take on this question: 

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