One of my posts got a pretty big bump at dzone and puttering around a bit I found Signs of a GOOD Manager / Team Lead. In the article Dave Schinkel (who really should put his name a little more prominantly than just at the bottom in the copyright footer) goes through each of these points in detail, but here is his list of characteristics / attitudes / process of good management & leadership. (Various emphasis are his.)

  1. Have a passion about technology but care more about ensuring that their underlying team succeeds
  2. Motivates his/her team on a regular basis
  3. Passion to teach or help younger members learn
  4. Ability for the lead to handle their big titles & responsibilities without constantly using a lame response such as “I’m too busy for your problems because I’m a manager and I am very busy myself” which presents a very negative type of attitude back to your developer.
  5. Openness to share their expertise & insight to team members
  6. Ability to Humble oneself
  7. Checks often to see how team members are doing not because that manager wants to push his team, but sincerely wants to see if there are any issues or struggles
  8. Ability to communicate the requirements & expectations effectively to team members
  9. Treat everyone as equals
  10. Do not micro manage. This will make your developer absolutely despise you. And eventually I can guarantee you that he/she will eventually say adios to that day in and out. Micro managing also shows how weak you are as a manager who feels they need to control EVERYTHING. Not healthy for you and not healthy for your team.
  11. If a subordinate is struggling, lift them up
  12. Understand that there must be some time set aside for your developers to study/learn
  13. I don’t care what the deadline is. Take the human aspect of work into perspective in regards to YOUR team.
  14. Stop saying “it’s easy” to your developers

It is nicely summed up as follows:
Management is not just about deadlines (business likes to think it’s 100% that but that’s why they often fail), it’s about people and communication and success with motivation and growing as a team together in order to facilitate meeting those deadlines. Do I think that any manager can take into account ALL points above along with their insanely busy schedule? Certainly.