Because they sit at the intersection of strategy design and strategy execution, high performing managers are one of the most powerful levers for improving business and people performance. While strategy sets direction and culture shapes how work gets done, managers translate both into the daily:
- Decisions
- Priorities
- Behaviors
— that determine results.
What Management Research Says
Research reinforces the importance of effective people managers. Gallup has reported that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement across business units. And research by Nicholas Bloom and colleagues involving thousands of organizations has consistently linked stronger management practices with higher productivity, profitability, growth, and organizational health.
The Problem to Solve
The challenge is that great individual contributors do not automatically transition into great leaders. We know from people manager assessment center data that building high performing managers requires deliberate investment in the mindsets, skills, and organizational conditions required to lead others effectively.
7 Proven Ways to Build High Performing Managers
- Set Clear Performance Expectations
High performing managers ensure employees understand what success looks like, why it matters, and how performance will be measured. Ambiguity creates wasted effort and competing priorities.
New manager training participants learn that effective people managers continually connect individual and team goals to the broader business strategy. Employees should be able to answer three questions: What matters most? How will success be measured? Where should I focus my energy? - Create Accountability for Results
Accountability should not mean micromanagement. Strong managers establish clear commitments, provide appropriate autonomy, track progress, and address gaps before they become major problems.
The goal is to create an environment where people take ownership for delivering results rather than waiting to be chased. - Provide Frequent and Useful Feedback
Organizational culture assessment research is clear: annual performance reviews are not enough. High performing managers provide timely, specific, and actionable feedback that helps employees understand what to continue and what to change.
Research from Gallup consistently highlights the importance of meaningful manager conversations. The best feedback creates clarity and learning without diminishing confidence or accountability. - Coach Instead of Always Providing Answers
Managers often earn promotions because they are accomplished problem solvers. Unfortunately, constantly solving problems for employees can create dependency.
Great managers know when to provide direction and when to ask thought-provoking questions. Effective coaching helps employees improve their judgment, expand their capabilities, and take greater ownership of decisions. - Build Trust Through Consistency
Employees closely watch what managers say, do, reward, tolerate, and prioritize. When those signals conflict, trust deteriorates.
High performing managers create credibility by making sound decisions, following through on commitments, communicating transparently, and treating people fairly. Trust makes it safer for employees to raise concerns, challenge assumptions, admit mistakes, and collaborate across boundaries. - Adapt to Different People and Situations
One management style rarely works for everyone. A new employee may require more structure, while an experienced high performer may thrive with greater autonomy.
Effective management development teaches managers to adjust their level of direction, support, coaching, and delegation based on the person, task, stakes, and situation. Adaptability becomes especially important during periods of uncertainty and organizational change. - Develop Managers Through Real Work
Traditional management training often falls short because knowing what to do is different from consistently doing it under pressure.
Develop managers by learning in the flow of work and focusing on key management scenarios around actual business priorities, difficult conversations, team challenges, and performance expectations. Combine targeted learning with practice, feedback, coaching, reinforcement, and accountability. The closer development is connected to real work, the greater the probability that new leadership behaviors will stick.
The Bottom Line
High performing managers do far more than supervise work. They translate strategy into action, shape the employee experience, build critical capabilities, and create the conditions for people to perform at their peak. Organizations that want better leaders should focus on seven fundamentals: clarify expectations, strengthen accountability, improve feedback, build coaching skills, earn trust, adapt leadership styles, and develop managers through real business challenges. When managers get better, the ripple effects can be substantial — stronger engagement, faster execution, better decisions, and more sustainable business performance.
To learn more about how to successfully transition as a new leader, download 6 Top Traps That Can Sabotage Success as a Leader