I care about people; not just for their sake, but because I believe if you take care of your employees, they will do a better job for you.  I am a teacher at heart and love mentoring.  Getting a window into the professional journeys of my direct reports and being able to guide them along their paths has been incredibly rewarding for me over the past 10+ years that I've been a manager.

Developing a good manager-employee relationship starts with building trust.  I met with all my reports 1-on-1 on a regular cadence determined by their needs.  My discussions would include their immediate workload, medium- and long-term goals, any feedback I gathered from project teams or clients, and anything from their personal lives they wanted to share.  I employ a direct and honest approach.  I provided thorough feedback and analysis of their progress at annual reviews which rarely contained surprises since both positive and constructive feedback were delivered throughout the year.  I set their compensation accordingly and dealt with any negotiations that were necessary.

In addition to individualized management, I ran regular team meetings with my direct reports (who called themselves "Billievers") to build camaraderie.  There, the atmosphere was light-hearted and fun.  Our discussions often went down random rabbit holes, although if there was particular business to discuss, we'd get that done, too.