A good manager can keep a team moving. A great manager can make the team better.
The qualities of a great manager aren't always obvious from a resume. Years of experience, a familiar title, or a strong technical background can tell you where someone has been, but they don't necessarily tell you how that person will lead.
A Stanford study published in 2025 found that highly ambitious leaders, based on responses from more than 450 executives, tended to rate their own leadership abilities more positively, but those assessments were not supported by ratings from their peers, managers, and direct reports.1
When you're evaluating management candidates, look beyond experience and focus on the behaviors that show someone is ready to lead others well.
Look for the Behaviors That Define Great Managers
The difference between a good and great manager often shows up in everyday decisions. How does a candidate handle accountability? How do they develop people? What happens when priorities change or a team member struggles?
Managers have a significant effect on the people they lead. Gallup's research finds that managers account for 70 percent of the variance in team-level employee engagement.2 Their research also shows that highly engaged teams have 23 percent higher profitability and up to 18 percent higher productivity in sales than teams with lower engagement.3
1. They develop people, not just performance.
A good manager makes sure work gets done. A great manager pays attention to how people can grow while doing it.
Look for candidates who can explain how they've helped employees take on more responsibility, improve a skill, or prepare for their next role. Ask for specific examples rather than accepting broad statements about being a "people person." A candidate should be able to tell you:
- How they coached an employee through a challenge
- How they identified someone's potential
- How they handled underperformance
- How they delegated without simply handing off tasks
2. They know when to step in and when to step back.
Strong managers don't need to be involved in every decision.
A great manager creates enough direction for the team to operate confidently, then gives people room to do their jobs. During an interview, ask candidates about a situation where they deliberately gave an employee ownership of an important decision.
This can reveal whether you're looking at someone who builds capable teams or someone who needs to remain at the center of every decision.
3. They treat coaching as part of the job.
Coaching should be more than an occasional performance conversation.
Google's Project Oxygen — a multi-year research initiative analyzing data from thousands of employees — found that strong coaching skills consistently ranked among the top qualities of highly effective managers.4 The research looked at thousands of employees and focused on the specific behaviors that distinguished effective managers.
During an interview, ask: "Tell me about a time you helped someone work through a problem rather than simply giving them the answer."
The response can tell you whether a candidate knows how to develop judgment in other people, not just make decisions for them.
4. They handle difficult conversations directly.
Leadership gets tested when things become uncomfortable.
A candidate may have an impressive track record, but how have they handled conflict between employees? What did they do when a high-performing employee wasn't meeting expectations? How did they communicate an unpopular decision?
Look for answers that demonstrate preparation, honesty, and accountability. Great managers don't avoid difficult conversations simply because they are difficult.
Use a More Precise Standard When Hiring or Promoting
Once you've identified the behaviors you're looking for, apply the same standard consistently. This is especially important when promoting an internal employee.
Someone can be an excellent individual contributor without being ready to manage other people. Likewise, someone with limited management experience may have the judgment, communication skills, and leadership approach needed to succeed in a larger role.
Read more: The Best Hiring Practices to Follow in 2026
1. Don't let tenure make the decision for you.
Time with the company can be valuable, but it shouldn't automatically equal leadership readiness.
Stanford’s research is a useful reminder here: wanting to lead and believing you're ready to lead are not reliable substitutes for evidence of effective leadership.1
Ask whether the person has already demonstrated the behaviors the new role requires. Have they influenced outcomes outside their own team or formal authority? Do they seek out feedback on their own blind spots, not just their team's?
2. Test for leadership style and cultural fit.
The right manager needs to fit the team they will lead and the organization they will operate within.
That's where precision matters. At Journey Search Partners, that's the foundation of our PATH process: aligning leadership style and cultural fit with what an organization needs, not just what's on paper.
During your evaluation, consider how the candidate's leadership style would work with your existing team, expectations, and business environment.
3. Separate readiness from familiarity.
Before making a promotion or hiring decision, ask one final question:
Is this person ready to lead, or are they simply the most familiar choice?
That distinction can prevent a common leadership hiring mistake: promoting someone because they have performed well in their current position without determining whether they can succeed in the next one.
A clearer standard starts with the role itself. Define what success looks like, identify the behaviors that support it, and use those standards consistently throughout the search.
Find the right leader for your team.
If you're hiring for a management or executive role, Journey Search Partners can help you define what the role requires and find leaders who fit both the position and your organization.
We look beyond resumes to headhunt leaders who aren't actively job-hunting, evaluate them against the leadership style and culture your organization needs, and stay involved after the hire is made. If you're hiring for a management or executive role, contact us today to talk through your search.
References
- “Don’t confuse ambition with effective leadership.” Stanford Report, 15 Jan. 2025, https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/01/dont-confuse-ambition-effective-leadership
- “How to Engage Frontline Managers.” Gallup, 19 Jan. 2024, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/395210/engage-frontline-managers.aspx
- “What Is Employee Engagement, and How Do You Improve It?” Gallup, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/285674/improve-employee-engagement-workplace.aspx. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.
- Chaudhary, Ruchira. “4 Styles of Coaching—and When to Use Them.” Harvard Business Review, 18 Mar. 2025, https://hbr.org/2025/03/4-styles-of-coaching-and-when-to-use-them
