Great Managers Need Two Types of Maturity

To be a great manager, you need to be mature.

That doesn't mean you have to be old.

I've seen plenty of seasoned managers who still can't do the basics. And I've seen plenty of young people with management ability galore.

No, maturity is something different. It's a certain development out of the error-filled, blind-spot-laden first stages of something. In this case, managing people.

And like I said, sometimes maturity does come with experience, but it's certainly not a straight correlation. There’s no time limit for how long managers can hang out in the immaturity zone.

There are two basic types of maturity a manager needs: emotional and professional.

Emotional Maturity: The Heart

Emotional maturity is about people: understanding them, working with them, getting the best from them.

Emotionally immature managers miss the obvious signs. They don't notice when someone's performance drops because they're struggling at home. They can't tell the difference between the employee who does great detai…