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5 Habits That Separate Great Managers From The Rest
Great managers are rare. Gallup research finds that only one in 10 people naturally possesses the talent to manage well. The question is what that 10% does differently from the rest.
A new working paper from the University of Chicago offers a compelling answer. After analyzing personnel records covering more than 200,000 workers and 30,000 managers across 100 countries over a decade, economist Virginia Minni found that employees who worked under a strong manager experienced lasting career gains. Seven years later, they earned 13% more, made 40% more lateral moves within the company and were 31% more likely to be promoted than comparable workers who moved from one lower-performing manager to another.
The findings suggest that great management isn’t just about personality, charisma or keeping teams on track. It comes down to a specific set of habits that help employees move into better-fitting roles, increase their earning potential and create more value for the business
1. Great Managers Match People To The Right Work
Great managers do more than assign tasks. They pay attention to where each person’s strengths, interests and skills are most useful, then help move them toward work that fits. That approach has a measurable impact on compensation. Minni’s analysis found that lateral moves explain 64% of the long-term salary gains employees experienced after working under a strong manager.
One example from the research captures the dynamic. A worker mentioned in passing that she cared about environmental sustainability. Her manager noticed and later recommended her for a lead role on the company’s new green initiative. The role aligned with her values and became a stepping stone to a strategic leadership position.
2. Great Managers Invest Time In One-On-Ones
You can’t match someone to the right work if you don’t know them. Great managers understand that, so they spend their time accordingly.
Time-use data, based on a sample of nearly 600 managers across multiple countries and functions, found that strong managers spent 19% more time in one-on-one meetings with direct reports than average managers did. They also showed a more communication-heavy management style, sending more emails, multitasking more often and having fewer uninterrupted hour-long blocks on their calendars.
The takeaway is not that great managers are busier. It is that they operate as connectors, coaches and decision-makers in real time. One-on-one meetings are where managers learn what someone is good at, what they are frustrated by and what they may be ready to do next. Average managers treat those meetings as status updates. Great managers use them to understand where people can grow.
3. Great Managers Mentor Instead Of Supervise
Great managers don’t just monitor work. They help employees see what they’re capable of doing next. In the study, workers described their best managers as people who initiated growth conversations, provided structured feedback, and created opportunities aligned with individual aspirations. That investment showed up in workers’ behavior. Employees working under a strong manager were 15.4% more likely to apply to short-term internal projects and posted 10% more skills on the company’s internal talent platform.
That’s what mentorship looks like in practice. When managers take an active role in development, employees are more likely to put themselves forward for stretch opportunities, build leadership skills and communicate what they’re ready to take on next.
4. Great Managers Choose Fit Over Familiarity
Some managers place people where it’s easiest. Great managers look for where they’ll be most effective.
Employees working under strong managers were less likely to move into roles connected to their manager’s prior network. They were also less likely to follow that manager to a new team or stay under the same manager over time. The placements weren’t about loyalty, proximity or convenience. They were about where each person was most likely to perform well, even when that meant helping a strong employee move elsewhere in the organization.
Talent hoarding is one of the easiest traps for managers to fall into. Some managers hold on to their best people because letting them move feels like a loss. Great managers take a broader view. They focus on where the employee can contribute the most, not just how to keep the team intact.
5. Great Managers Build Strategy And Talent Skills
Project management matters, but it isn’t enough. Great managers also build the strategy and talent skills needed to connect people’s abilities to the organization’s needs.
Average managers are more likely to emphasize project management skills, including the fundamentals of execution, timelines and deliverables. Strong managers were more likely to add strategic thinking and talent management to that toolkit.
Those skills help explain why strong managers are better at matching people to the right work. Without strategic thinking, a manager can’t see where someone fits in the broader business. Without talent management, they can’t help that person move toward the right opportunity.
Companies often promote managers because they deliver projects on time. The research suggests they should also pay attention to who’s developing the people behind those projects.
What Sets Great Managers Apart
The five habits point to the same underlying mindset. A manager’s job isn’t just to direct day-to-day work. It is to help people move toward the roles, projects and opportunities where they can perform at their best.
That mindset is rare. Gallup estimates that companies choose the wrong manager 82% of the time, often promoting strong individual contributors who never develop the skills and instincts to lead. Research shows what’s at stake when companies get it right. Employees who work under strong managers move into better-fitting roles, earn more and remain on stronger career trajectories years after that manager has moved on.
The encouraging takeaway is that effective management is not only a matter of personality. It is also a set of behaviors great managers can practice, including spending real time with employees, understanding their strengths, supporting their growth and placing them where they can contribute the most.
*Sources: Virginia Minni; University of Chicago, Caroline Castrillon; Forbes.com, 5/2026
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