Great Managers Lead the Individual

Yes. That changes the center of gravity of the article. It isn't really about adapting your communication style. It's about understanding the individual well enough to lead them toward a shared goal.

I'd build from your distinction between good and great managers:

Every person on your team shows up with a different perspective.

They have different experiences. Different strengths. Different ambitions. Different ways of solving problems. Different reasons for why the work matters to them.

And yet, as managers, we sometimes communicate as though everyone is starting from the same place.

They're not.

Good managers set clear expectations. They make sure people understand what needs to be accomplished, why it's important, and what success looks like.

Great managers do that, too.

But they take it one step further.

Great managers set and communicate expectations and goals in a way that resonates with the individual.

The goal can be the same. The reason doesn't have to be.

Let's say you're trying to grow revenue by 20%.

That's the organizational goal. Everyone on the team needs to understand it.

But that goal may mean very different things to the people working toward it.

Your salesperson might be motivated by the challenge of winning new business. Someone else might be excited about what that growth means for the future of the company. Another person may care about the opportunity it creates for their team. And someone else may simply want to understand exactly what their role is and how they'll know they're succeeding.

They're all working toward the same goal.

The difference is how they connect to it.

That's where leadership comes in.

You have to know the people you're leading

You can't lead to the individual if you don't know the individual. And I don't mean knowing that someone has two kids and likes to golf.

• What do they care about in their work?

• How do they define their own success?

• Where do they want to grow?

• What kind of work gives them energy?

• What experiences have shaped the way they approach problems?

• What do they need from you when things aren't going well?

Some of those answers you'll get by asking. Others you'll learn by paying attention over time.

Because people bring more than skills to their jobs. They bring perspective and experience. A good leader learns how to tap into that instead of expecting everyone to approach the work exactly the same way.

This shows up in how you communicate, too

This is one of the reasons we talk about DISC in the Curious Mind Trust.

DISC gives leaders a practical framework for recognizing that people receive and process information differently.

You may have someone who wants you to get to the point. What's the goal? What's the deadline? What do you need from me?

Someone else may want context. How did we get here? What information are we using? Can I have some time to think about this before we make a decision?

Neither person is more committed to the work. They simply engage with it differently.

Knowing that helps you communicate the same expectation in a way each person can actually hear and act on.

DISC isn't the whole answer. It's simply one tool for learning to recognize those differences.

Leadership isn't one-size-fits-all

There's a balance here.

Managing to the individual doesn't mean creating completely different rules for everyone. Expectations still need to be clear. Accountability still matters. The team still needs shared goals.

But the way you help each person get there may be different.

One person needs more context.

One needs more autonomy.

One wants to understand the impact.

One wants a challenge.

One needs to talk through an idea.

One needs to go away, think about it, and come back tomorrow.

The destination doesn't change.

How you help someone see themselves in that destination might.

And that's one of the differences between managing work and leading people.

If you want to be a better leader, don't just ask:

"Have I clearly communicated the goal?"

Ask the next question:

"Does this person understand why this goal matters to them?"

That's a much more interesting leadership question.