Google reveals its secret recipe for leadership success

Google reveals its secret recipe for leadership successGoogle reveals its secret recipe for leadership successOver 2 million people want to to work for Google. Now the technology giant is sharing its very own management tools and insightwith the public, free of charge.The richly detailed guidance,based on company research,shows how Google trains its engineers and others to become leaders of teams.Its reportedly normal for Google to train new managers when theyve been on the job for 45-90 days- in other words, when theyve already spent time leading their teams. Google discovered thatmanagers are most open to getting better after theyve started working and have experience to draw upon.Although Google provides anexhaustive amount of training materials on its reWork blog- including a new manager student workbook, new manager training presentation slides, and a new manager training facilitator guide that you can use at your workplace, all of which you can download as PDFs or open as Goo gle Docs on Drive- here are a few things you can learn.After all, its important for employers not to leave managers- especially first-time ones- in the deep end without any real direction.How to be a good communicatorCommunication at work is a two-way street employees and managers must be able to have transparent conversations about expectations, assignments and everything in between.According to Googles New Manager Project Workbook,Googles Project Oxygen says that great supervisors at the company share eight main characteristics. The research was conducted by Googles PiLab in 2009, and Gallup research reportedly confirms similar attributes.One of the them is being a good communicator, which means both hearing and volunteering information.A few other factors identified in each high-scoring manager are being productive and guided by results, possessing technical abilities that can be used to aid the team, and being someone who empowers their reports and doesnt engage in micromanag ement.How to practice empathic listeningGoogles New Manager Training Slides explore the topic of listeningand couple it with an activity, showing that it boils down to two things- hearing what the other part is saying and noticing other persons energy, mood, tone of voice.A few actions that fall under the first umbrella are giving your undivided attention to who is speaking, hearing them out, rephrasing what they said into your own words to make sure you have it right and having the person clear up anything you dont understand.A few actions that fall under the second umbrella are paying attention to your gut/intuition and identifying what it is, thinking of what the person isnt communicating out loud, and showing empathy by saying something like, I hear you are frustrated by XX.You cant expect to lead your teameffectively- especially as a new manager, when youre proving your worth and eagerness to help direct reports and your department succeed- if you dont listen to each persons i nput.Also keep in mind that being granted a manager or supervisor title does not mean youve automatically learned everything there is to know about your field, so be receptive to perspectives other than yours.Want to find out mora about your team? Do thisThe New Manager Student Workbook features a conversation guide managers can use to learn more about their employees.It outlines four steps in detail, in this order organizing the meeting, learning more about your direct report, how to open up the discussion (giving the employee the opportunity to find out more about you, their manager) and how to end it.Something that stood out in the first section is how to set the tone and objective of the gathering. Google provides two sample lines, including Weve gone through a lot of change recently and I want to understand your work style, your history, what youre passionate about, your career interest and goals, and how I can best support you. We wont cover everything today but I wanted to at least start the conversation.The second section features questions to ask reports about themselves, their work, and how they operate (working style), which can be used over the course of multiple one-on-one meetings.A smart question in working style section was this How do you like to be managed (e.g., likes structure, loves autonomy, works best alone, wants to be part of a team)?It recognizes that theres no one correct way to work, and each person has their preferences. But it also emphasizes discussion between managers and the people on their teams. Its that kind of empathy that strengthens morale.