"What do great managers actually do all day?"

The 6 pillars of great management

Hey team,

I got this message in my DMs…

“What do great managers actually do all day?”

It's a valid question. One I had no idea of the answer to when I first started my leadership journey.

But over the years, I have worked alongside some of the greatest managers in the game, from multi-mil £ business builders, the guy who built Microsoft excel (yes, really), and the grads who are being noticed and moved through the ranks right out of uni.

I started learning, writing things down that I’d noticed as patterns, then putting them into practice in my own work.

So here are the 6 pillars the best managers consistently work on, every single day:

1) Spending time with your team 1-on-1

Exactly how much time depends on the size of your team, but you should have scheduled time with each of them at least every other week.

2) Personal Development (for you and your team)

Investing time and £$ in the development of you and your team is crucial for your and the business’ long-term success.

But over the past 10 years in management roles, growing a SaaS company, and teaching 450+ managers in my new-manager bootcamp, I’ve noticed the same pattern again and again…

Most managers avoid personal development because because the urgent always feels louder than the important. And over time, that’s exactly what keeps people busy… but stuck.

3) Delegating (properly)

The majority of us managers will spend a lot of our day being handed projects and given direction from above. Then we often don’t delegate because we think “It’ll just be quicker if I did it myself”

4) Working on systems

Being a system-focused manager is what sets you head and shoulders above the rest.

It’ll be what ensures you and your team aren’t overwhelmed, and that you’re all working as smart (not hard) as possible. It means taking time away from the day-to-day technical tasks, to improve the back-end running of the show.

But in simple terms, your systems are the cogs that keep the machine running in the background. Your meeting rhythms, accountability systems, roles and responsibilities docs.

5) Providing direction

54% of employees believe their managers don't have a clear direction for the team (Harvard Biz Review) This lack of direction leads to confusion, decreased productivity, and disengagement.

Spend your time ensuring the direction of your team is clear.

6) Reactive work

We need space for being reactive, being given another project from a senior, a team member being ill, deadlines being moved, clients unhappy, whatever happens, you need to have the space to deal with it effectively (as opposed to being super stressed)

You’re either going to love or hate what I’m about to say…

But the greatest managers don’t actually ‘do’ all that much. They aren’t in the day to day. They’ve working on.

But most managers are never actually taught how to do this.

You’re promoted, handed a team, and expected to figure it out as you go.
No systems. No support. No safe place to get it wrong.

That’s exactly why I built Fresh Start.

Fresh Start is a 6-week online bootcamp where we don’t just talk about good management, we build it. I take you through every single one of the steps above, including:

• How to run proper 1-on-1s
• Clear accountability to get your team smashing their KPIs
• Delegation that actually works
• Confidence in difficult conversations
• Knowing when to work on the team, not in the chaos

👉 Join the Fresh Start waitlist to get all the juicy info

But don’t just take my word for it…

Already trusted by 450+ managers across high-growth startups and global companies. Rated 4.9/5* (read reviews)

The bootcamp isn’t for everyone. It’s for new managers (0-3years) who are ready to take control of their leadership career, and the results for them and the business.

Join the waitlist to get all the info in your inbox.

Peace,
H

P.S. Fresh Start is even more powerful when you enrol a group of managers. You get faster behaviour change, shared language across the team, and far less time lost to misalignment and rework. I also run private Q&As to tackle real, live challenges. If you have 5+ managers who need to level up together, you can book a no-pressure consultation call here.