The success of any manager, beyond their technical skills and experience, depends on the degree of attention they give to the people around them. One may have the most gifted mind in the world and have worked in the best hotels in the world, but if they do not pay proper attention to their team, we can say they have failed professionally.

People are not things

People are not pieces. They are not machines. People come with individual emotions, and they act accordingly. People have lives outside the hotel where they work, and the cause-and-effect relationship between private life and work goes both ways. People remember how you and their previous managers treated them. They have minds of their own and can think quite well for themselves. People are not good at doing the same thing over and over again. They need to use their brains, and most of them work well. People are creative. They come up with good ideas. People are perceptive, too. They notice and feel the things happening around them, and work is an important part of their environment.

Relationships matter

The people on your team will develop relationships with you and with one another. They are all part of a complex human system, and what you and your teammates do affects the other parts of that system. Trust is essential for high performance. When people trust one another, the team can move quickly and confidently. When people do not trust one another, they move slowly and tentatively. Team members must trust one another to do the work they need to do. That is operational trust. Team members must also trust one another to support each other and work for the good of the team.

Everyone is different

Every person on your team is a unique human being. Some people are assertive, while others are shy. Some like to do things quickly; others are more measured. Some people need frequent feedback, while others call that micromanagement. Your great challenge as a manager is to find the best way to deal with each team member. It is your job to understand how their personalities can make them successful—or not—and how they will work best with other team members.

Everyone is the same

As different as they are, everyone shares common human desires and behaviours. Self-determination theory says that the three main drivers for most people are autonomy, relatedness and competence. Autonomy means that people want as much control as possible over their work. So it is best to give it to them. Competent and committed people need little supervision. Relatedness means that people want to be part of a team. This is something you should use to your advantage. Your challenge is to create a team environment that is safe and rewarding. Competence refers to doing work that is challenging. It is about learning new things and improving. Your challenge is to help people grow and develop.