After conducting a unique global study of over 9,000 people, analysts at the world-leading sales research firm Gartner identified four distinct types of manager. Incredibly, they found one type consistently performs far better than the rest, and it wasn’t the one they were expecting.
Connector Managers understand that it’s not enough for managers to just encourage and teach employees themselves, and that providing constant coaching to employees can actually be detrimental to their independent development. Instead, by connecting employees to others in the team or organisation, Connector Managers can help their employees develop a range of skills beyond their own areas of expertise.
Although the four types of managers are more or less evenly distributed, employees with Connector Managers perform significantly better than others. Employees with Always-on Managers who provide constant feedback and coaching perform significantly worse.
Drawing on their ground-breaking data-driven research, as well as in-depth case studies and extensive interviews with thousands of managers, you’ll discover what behaviours define Connector Managers and how you can use them yourself to build brilliant, powerhouse teams.
I’m a fan of Gartner and their research is generally insightful and timely. The connector manager findings are no exception, but my word - the book itself is unbelievably repetitive. New information is presented, then said again and again and again in slightly different ways every few pages. I get repeating what’s important, but in this case, what’s actionable and important is potentially even harder to find because it’s buried among A LOT of repeated ideas and findings. As usual, good case studies provided as examples. All in all, I recommend skipping the book and finding an article or podcast, or even reading the Gartner research instead. You could also go straight to the back and review the resources & toolkits found there, and be just as well off as if you’d read the whole thing.