PDF Summary:Leadership Skills for Managers, by Amber Preston

Managing people is challenging—it requires balancing multiple responsibilities, making difficult decisions, and inspiring others to work toward shared goals. But effective leadership isn't just about delegating tasks or holding meetings. It's about developing the right mindset, skills, and behaviors that enable you to guide your team successfully.

In Leadership Skills for Managers, Amber Preston explains how to become a more effective leader by building core leadership qualities like vision, courage, and empathy. You'll learn how to think strategically, communicate with influence, empower your team members, and make better decisions while managing risk. Preston also covers practical management techniques like delegation and offers guidance on creating a high-performance culture through inclusive leadership practices.

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Embracing Experimentation and Complexity

The advice to “embrace experimentation” and learn from errors reflects a shift in leadership theory toward complexity-based approaches. Margaret Wheatley’s Leadership and the New Science argues that organizations are complex, self-organizing systems that adapt through experimentation and feedback, not rigid top-down control. She explains that “The things we fear most in organizations—fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances—need not be signs of an impending disorder that must be controlled. Instead, they are the source of creativity.” This perspective suggests that leaders should create environments where teams can run many small, safe-to-fail experiments rather than trying to design a perfect master plan from the top down. The emphasis on visibly modeling strategic thinking also aligns with complexity theory’s view that leaders shape organizational culture through their own behavior.

Next, we’ll discuss the importance of communication and influence, and explore how empowerment along with the environment can help employees succeed.

Communication & Influence

Preston asserts that leaders must communicate effectively to set goals, form connections, and solve conflicts. Leaders must articulate the team's vision and objectives clearly, including necessary tasks, their significance, and the metrics for success. Consistent communication that is open and honest allows leaders to gain the respect and trust of their team, resulting in greater involvement, efficiency, and retention.

Leaders must also give consistent guidance and feedback to people to support their enhancement of abilities and outcomes. Additionally, they must be capable of spotting problems, comprehending varied viewpoints, and discovering solutions that benefit all parties. This necessitates being attentive, showing understanding, and facilitating constructive dialogue.

The Feedback Fallacy

While Preston advocates for continual open, honest guidance and feedback, this approach can backfire if not handled carefully. In their meta-analysis of 131 studies, Avraham N. Kluger and Angelo DeNisi found that feedback interventions actually decreased performance in over one-third of cases. They argue that feedback is most likely to impair performance when it shifts attention away from the task and toward the self, ego, or social comparison. This suggests that while open communication is important, leaders must be mindful of how and when they deliver feedback to avoid unintended negative consequences on team performance and engagement.

Preston also believes that leaders should encourage strong communication within their teams. Managers can do this by encouraging team members to interact casually to build relationships, establishing clear communication channels, and fostering an environment that values open and honest input. Leaders can also offer guidance and materials to assist their team in honing communication abilities, and acknowledge achievements as a group to build team spirit.

(Shortform note: Encouraging team members to interact casually and fostering an environment that values open and honest input can backfire. In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that there is “zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” She explains that when you create a culture that values extroversion and openness, you risk alienating employees who are more introverted or value privacy. These employees may then stop contributing their best ideas.)

Empowerment & Environment

Preston explains that empowerment involves allowing employees to behave autonomously and creatively. It's different from motivation, which aims to persuade people to want to act. Empowerment begins when leaders appreciate what employees contribute and suggest. Employees won’t have a genuine sense of empowerment if their supervisor is constantly present or intervenes as soon as problems arise. When you foster independent thought and allow team members room to develop leadership skills, you strengthen the organization and enable yourself to concentrate on the strategic tasks that only you can perform.

(Shortform note: Self-determination theory suggests that when leaders reduce continual oversight and genuinely value employees’ input, they fulfill people’s needs for choice, competence, and connection. This makes employees more likely to self-manage their effort and problem-solving, reducing dependence on the supervisor and increasing the system’s overall capacity. In contrast, when leaders micromanage or intervene too quickly, they inadvertently signal that employees can’t be trusted to handle challenges, which undermines confidence and initiative.)

To demonstrate empowerment, Preston suggests getting input before deciding on things that affect the team, prompting people to share ideas and feedback, and acknowledging excellent work. You can also invest in training, give people freedom to handle their responsibilities creatively, support employees who commit mistakes with good intentions, and allow emerging leaders to spearhead projects. Collaborate with your group to design detailed, practical growth strategies. Agree on objectives, resources, and checkpoints, then give employees freedom in how they carry out their work. Acknowledge when team members anticipate and resolve issues before they worsen.

(Shortform note: Another way to demonstrate empowerment is to give employees a stake in the outcomes they influence. In Shared Capitalism at Work, the authors argue that when employees have a financial stake in the company’s success, they’re more likely to take responsibility for results, contribute ideas, and sustain higher levels of productivity. This can be done through profit sharing, employee stock ownership, or stock options tied to company and workgroup performance.)

Applying Leadership Abilities

Next, we’ll discuss effective practices for leading, including practical management techniques and methods for making effective decisions and handling risk. Then, we’ll explore how leaders can cultivate a high-performance culture by modeling and integrating inclusive approaches.

Leading Through Effective Practices

Practical Management Techniques

Preston recommends that leaders delegate tasks to empower their groups and increase productivity. Delegation involves giving a task to another person, often a subordinate. It’s a powerful strategy that enhances efficiency, cultivates employees' abilities, and allows managers to concentrate on more strategic, higher-level tasks. It also expands team capacity, strengthens team skills, enhances employee engagement, and improves talent retention. Additionally, delegating reflects that you recognize the capabilities of team members. To delegate well, Preston advises leveraging your team's strengths. Learn about your employees' abilities, backgrounds, ways of working, and goals, and assign responsibilities that suit their individual strengths.

(Shortform note: While delegation is a powerful tool for leaders, there are situations where it may not be feasible. For example, in highly regulated industries like nuclear power or healthcare, strict legal and procedural requirements can limit a leader's ability to delegate certain tasks. For instance, a nuclear plant manager can't delegate responsibility for safety compliance to a junior engineer, and a surgeon can't delegate the actual operation to a medical student. In these contexts, the kind of flexible delegation Preston describes may not be possible, and leaders must find other ways to empower their teams within the constraints of their industry.)

Clearly define what success entails, and establish well-defined goals and benchmarks together. Then step back and allow the team to work its magic. Request, don't compel. Engage team members in a two-way dialogue about the work that needs to be done and how they might be able to contribute. Give them a chance to discuss worries, suggestions, and what assistance they'll require. Preston also recommends balancing delegation with responsibility. Create a schedule of regular updates and status checks to confirm work is on track. Your degree of engagement should adjust according to the task's difficulty and the worker's expertise. Align with employees on your expectations for updates, resource needs, and how you'll course-correct if issues arise.

Make Delegation Explicit

In Management 3.0, Jurgen Appelo suggests that leaders and teams should make delegation explicit by choosing from seven distinct levels of authority. These range from level 1, where the manager makes and announces the decision, to level 7, where the team makes the decision and may not even need to inform the manager. Appelo argues that for each significant task or decision, leaders and teams should consciously agree on the level of authority in advance. This approach ensures everyone is clear about who holds which decision rights, reducing confusion and empowering team members appropriately.

Effective Decision-Making & Risk Management

Preston states that effective decision-making requires analysis, instinct, and comprehending and managing emotions. Emotional intelligence involves understanding your emotions and managing them as well as the emotions of other people. Leaders with elevated emotional intelligence can more effectively cultivate trust, settle disputes, and form constructive bonds with stakeholders and team members. They can interpret and react to others' emotional needs, developing a work setting that's inclusive and supportive.

The Debate Over Emotional Intelligence

Some leadership researchers disagree with Preston’s assertion that emotional intelligence is necessary for effective decision-making. They argue that emotional intelligence is a vague concept that lacks a clear definition and empirical support. They contend that traditional leadership qualities like intelligence, experience, and technical skills are more reliable predictors of success than emotional intelligence. They also question whether emotional intelligence can be effectively taught or measured, suggesting that it may be more of a personality trait than a skill that can be developed.

Leaders should also be aware of cognitive biases that might affect decision-making. Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts that can obscure your judgment. Two common biases include confirmation bias, which is the inclination to prefer and search for information that supports your existing beliefs while dismissing evidence that contradicts them, and a bias toward overconfidence, which is the tendency to overestimate your abilities, knowledge, and prediction accuracy. To counter cognitive biases, Preston suggests actively searching for evidence that contradicts your views, calibrating your confidence, inviting diverse perspectives, relying on systematic methods for decision-making, and being wary of high emotions.

The Upside of Cognitive Biases

While cognitive biases are often seen as errors in judgment, some psychologists argue that they can be beneficial in certain situations. In Gut Feelings, psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer argues that many cognitive biases are actually useful heuristics that help us make quick and effective decisions in complex environments. He explains that in an uncertain world, simple “fast and frugal” heuristics can often lead to better decisions than elaborate calculations, because they exploit the structure of the environment, require little information, and can be more accurate, faster, and less costly than complex statistical models.

Preston emphasizes that decision-making is essential for achieving outcomes and encouraging creativity. It's essential for both leadership and individual roles in every organization. The capacity for sound decision-making is vital to achieving outcomes, encouraging creativity, and adjusting to change. Managers are fundamentally tasked with making decisions. In a position of leadership, you'll often face tough challenges and competing priorities. The choices you make can profoundly affect your financial outcomes, team, and customers. Sound decision-making requires a blend of analysis, empathy, and wise judgment.

(Shortform note: While decision-making is central to many roles, there are situations where it’s less important. In The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande argues that in fields like surgery and aviation, the volume and complexity of what we do has outstripped the capacity of any individual, so we increasingly rely on checklists and standardized protocols to transfer responsibility for many steps from personal memory and discretion to a shared system that everyone must follow. In these environments, outcomes depend less on individual decision-making and more on adherence to established procedures. This approach is particularly valuable in high-risk settings where the cost of error is high and the margin for improvisation is low.)

However, making decisions matters for others besides leaders. All employees, at any position or level, make choices that impact their own work and how successful the team is. When people have the authority to make sound choices, they become more involved, driven, and effective. They can take charge of their responsibilities, proactively resolve issues, and foster an innovative and continuously improving environment. Conversely, poor choices can result in severe repercussions. It can result in lost chances, squandered assets, and harm to connections and status. In rapid and high-pressure settings, making wise decisions swiftly is crucial for maintaining competitiveness and reaching objectives.

The Paradox of Choice

While making decisions is important for everyone, The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz warns that too many choices can be overwhelming. He explains that when people are confronted with too many choices, they become overwhelmed, suffer increased stress and decision fatigue, are more prone to indecision or impulsive errors, and even when they do decide, they tend to feel less confident, less satisfied, and more regretful about the outcome. This suggests that if every employee is encouraged to make numerous rapid decisions, it could lead to decision fatigue, increased stress, and ultimately poorer outcomes.

Fostering a High-Performance Culture

Leader Actions for Building Culture

Preston asserts that leaders should model inclusivity and incorporate it into their work. Through what they say, how they act, and the choices they make, leaders convey the importance of diversity and enable employees to be authentic. They should actively demonstrate inclusion rather than merely speaking about it.

How Leaders’ Actions Enable Authenticity

Research on “identity-safety” shows that when leaders send signals that people from different social groups will not be stereotyped or devalued, employees feel more comfortable expressing their authentic selves. Purdie-Vaughns et al. found that when organizations make visible commitments to diversity and inclusion, employees from underrepresented groups feel less pressure to hide aspects of their identity. This effect is strongest when leaders’ actions match their words—for example, when they implement fair practices and apply them consistently.