What makes a good manager in the US?

November 7, 2023
Posted by: William BIRDWELL
Categories: American culture, Culture at work

The manager and employee relationship is the keystone of day-to-day business operations. In many instances it plays a major and visible role; in other instances this relationship is only in the background. Understanding the mutual expectations, assumptions and ambitions of both managers and employees are vital for the success of a team, department, and company. Most operations require someone who makes policy, gives instructions and supervises and people who execute and carry out orders. What makes a good manager is often open to debate and no two persons have exactly the same characteristics in mind for their ideal Boss.

In the US, as in every country in the world, there are excellent and bad employees and managers alike. I have worked under secure and insecure managers. I have had managers that were great at delegating and motivating while others resorted often to micro-managing. I have managed employees that were completely autonomous and competent in their work. Real partners. Other employees that I realized would never be completely competent or autonomous. Being a good manager and team member is always difficult even in the best of times.

Today I would like to talk about manager and employee relationships in the US. It is extremely difficult to define a standardized profile of an American Manager and Employee relationship. So much is determined by the sector in which we work, the professional and educational backgrounds of the managers and employees, the age and size of the company and of course the company culture itself. It wouldn’t be realistic to find the same decision making and delegation processes, or employee expectations in a Big Pharma group and that of a young start up. There are, however, a few American civic values or preferences that come into play that can directly impact behavior in many situations.

• Power

We probably should ask ourselves the first question what is our culture’s relationship to power. How was it exercised in our family and at school, the history of our country, who are our leader role models, how is power gained by individuals, how do we feel about giving and taking orders, how is inequality perceived in our culture, do we have a dominate personality etc..All these factors come into play later in our professional lives on the shop floor and in the board room.

Americans have an ambivalent relationship with power. On one hand it is a dirty word and on the other it is desired by many. It reminds me of Gollum’s “My Precious” in the Lord of the Rings. As we see now in American politics power is so coveted that certain politicians will use any means to keep it.

The ambivalent feelings about power in the US come from our strong value of Individualism. The value Individualism is also reinforced by a strong desire to be self-reliant and independent of others. It is therefore easy to see how manager-employee relationship can be complicated. Very simply, most Americans do not like to be given orders.

• Management style in the US

Many Americans look at managers as a necessary evil. Often I have heard in many different kinds of companies “that the best managers are those who manage the least”. One could argue that in an ideal world when competent people have well defined roles, the right processes and resources then maybe managers are no longer necessary. That is in an ideal world! Let’s have a look at what I believe to be “the better angels” of American management.

• Delegation

In the best circumstances I think that US managers are very good at delegating responsibility. The manager’s trust is something that subordinates feel as well. Employees in these conditions are empowered to make decision in their perimeter. In this type of relationship the manager wants subordinates to keep him updated and to use him as resource for important situations where arbitration is required. This “empowerment” is usually appreciated by most employees and a motivating power.

Delegation also requires accepting and forgiving employee mistakes. Delegating or empowering subordinates means taking good performance with poor performance. Poor performance or mistakes can be valuable learning experiences for the subordinate as well as the manager in charge.

In an ideal world where US managers delegate responsibility and empower subordinates to make decisions one of the worst things that could happen to her/him is to be saddled with a “high-maintenance-employee”. These are employees that never become completely autonomous or secure enough to make decisions in their sphere of responsibility and that require close supervision.

• A resource for the team

Once again an ideal world the manager is seen as a resource for the team and its objectives. The subordinate sees the manager’s role to be there to support them in day to day operations. Being available with an open door policy to discuss problems and help subordinates find solutions when they are stuck is really the hallmark of a good manager. This goes as well for finding solutions for conflict among team members.

• Feedback

American employees need feedback and encouragement on a regular basis. The subordinate needs to feel that she is making a contribution and that her work is appreciated as well as being given constructive feedback when mistakes have been made or when targets haven’t been reached. This need for positive feedback begins early in almost every American’s life at home and in elementary school. Parents and teachers try to develop and bolster children’s’ self esteem. This process continues later to a lesser extent in high school and college. So it is only natural that it continues further down the road in time in professional life.

• Decision making

One of the worst things in a team is when the manager is perceived as being indecisive or too long at making decisions. A lot of managers in the US are comfortable with making decisions without having all the information or all of the “big picture”. Many subordinates feel it is better for their manager to make a bad decision than no decision at all. “Getting into action” quickly is another US value that works as a double edge sword. In my experience subordinates usually expect that decisions are made in a timely manner, even if it means changing direction a few weeks or months down the road. “Analysis-paralysis” is unbearable for US team members.

• Informality

Most mid-level managers like to be seen as one of the team members. Of course using first names is the norm. A manager’s humility and self control are genuinely appreciated by the team as well as the ability “to walk his talk” meaning standing behind his/her decisions and supporting her/his team. None of the above takes away from his/her influence or authority.

These are just of a few of the important dynamics that are appreciated by staff in the US management style. These values are all very distinctive from many other management cultures in the world. Sometimes I feel that American Individualism is decisive in the overall US management context and many US managers have to accommodate this value. I recognize this streak of individualism in my own profile. I have never been comfortable with taking direct orders and never at ease in giving orders to others!

Culture is what it is. American Management works great in the US but should be applied with great precaution elsewhere in the world.

To learn more about manager-employee relations in the United States, sign up for one of our “Working with Americans” cross-cultural training courses.