Last week’s column focused on why great middle managers are so essential to creating a successful organization. They play a vital role in everything from creating the right culture, to attracting and retaining great talent, to bringing out the best in employees and constantly pushing them to grow, to helping their team navigate the stages of change. None of this is easy.

Also, middle managers are under a lot of stress. They are the most squeezed people in the company. They are sandwiched between their boss and those they supervise and have to consistently meet the needs of both groups. They have the most direct reports, typically work the longest hours, and—despite all this—get the least amount of training.

All of this means it takes a special kind of person to be a great middle manager. And when it’s time to fill one of these critical positions, companies often look to their best, most talented, and hardest working employees. This is understandable: We assume that if someone is an outstanding worker, they’ll be equally outstanding in a management role. But it’s not always the case.

Last week I pointed to an article in the Wall Street Journal that cited a Gallup poll finding that a company’s productivity is directly linked to the quality of its managers. That same article noted that the all-too-common urge to promote “superstars” into management roles may be misguided. The author wrote: “A growing body of evidence suggests there’s a weak correlation between an employee’s isolated talent and their leadership ability, and that quiet, selfless, middling performers often would be better choices.” 

That was interesting to me, and my own observations back it up. It doesn’t always pay to promote your hardest workers. They are terrific and make the organization hum, but they might not make the best managers. When they get behind, they just work harder, but when you are leading a team, that kind of thinking won’t work. (They often think, It’s just easier to do it myself.)

Great workers are also more inclined to work in the business, not on the business, and you need someone who spends most of their time working on the business.

So when you’re looking to promote someone to a management position (or perhaps recruit outside the company), what kind of skills and attributes should you look for? I find the best managers are:

Positive by nature. Great managers lead from a place of “what’s right.” They focus on wins, bright spots, and what’s going well. They lead the way in creating a positive workplace culture, which keeps people engaged, productive, and creative. 

Ethical and values driven. Managers make lots of decisions, and all of them affect other people. You must be able to count on managers to do the right thing at all times and to consistently live the company’s values. You want someone who sets the right example and also creates a culture of trust, which is a necessity for engaging employees, building teamwork and collaboration, paving the way for change, and more.

Good with change. Change is a constant in today’s workplace. Managers must be flexible enough to cope with it as it comes. That’s not easy because change is uncomfortable for everyone. Managers must be okay with being continually “unsettled” and must also be able to lead others through the discomfort of change.

Problem solvers and critical thinkers. Managers constantly field challenges, from small daily issues to major organizational crises. Look for someone who can stay calm, think through facts, drill down to the root cause of issues, and connect dots that aren’t always obvious. For example, a great manager may be able to see how a best practice in one department can be harvested and moved to another one—even if the two departments seem very different at first glance. 

Results oriented. Successful companies live and die by goals. They set what Jim Collins calls BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and relentlessly work to meet them. You need managers who are equally focused on results and know how to motivate employees to meet them. However, they shouldn’t seek results at the expense of relationships—good managers push people to get better and better but also know when to celebrate, have fun, and say thank you.

Good time managers. The scarcest resource we have is time. Managers have to be able to execute efficiently. They have to meet deadlines and keep projects moving. They must be able to give their attention and focus to the most important and meaningful tasks rather than letting B and C items eat up their day.

Able to delegate. As I mentioned earlier, a big reason not to promote superstar workers to management positions is that they have trouble moving from doing to leading. They can struggle with delegating. Yet delegating is how we move action to the best place in the organization. Not only does it free up the manager to work on other, more crucial items, it creates a training ground for others to become more valuable. This creates engagement and builds trust.

Self-aware and coachable. Great managers know what they’re good at and what they’re not. They practice humility and embrace learning. They’re open to feedback: They don’t get bent out of shape by constructive criticism. They want to grow personally and professionally and they seek out those who can help them get better and better.

Driven to develop others. The best managers see their role as creating an environment that enables and empowers employees to do their best work. They are able to see the potential in employees and never stop pushing them to live up to it. These people are mentors at heart.

Good communicators. The world is noisier than ever before. It’s hard to get people’s attention. It’s the digital age, so messages fly at people from all directions. We need managers who can break through the chaos and explain some pretty complex things in a way that people will understand and—just as important—act on.

Good listeners. Great managers know communication is not about pushing to get their message heard. It’s about engaging emotionally with the other person. That requires listening. This also comes back to humility: The listener realizes someone else may have a better solution.

Good at running a team. So many workplace tasks are collaborative in nature. No wonder: A Stanford study from a few years back found that working collaboratively on tasks can fuel people’s motivation and supercharge performance. It’s crucial to hire a manager who is good at facilitating teamwork. Ask yourself: Is this person able to delegate the right work to the right people? How do team members respond to them? Can they build positive relationships?

Able to manage conflict and hold tough conversations. Because they work side by side with employees, they often develop close relationships with them. This can make it hard to confront people when needed. Yet great managers know letting difficult truths go unsaid harms teamwork and erodes relationships. In many ways, conflict resolution is the ultimate business skill.

Willing to push back when needed to upper-level management. This is a tough one. Middle managers are closer to the action than senior leaders and see things they don’t. They need to have the confidence and the courage to push back when needed. This is yet another reason to make sure you have a culture where it’s psychologically safe for people to speak up.

It’s not easy to find great middle managers. When you do find someone with the right raw material, promote (or hire) them right away. Give them plenty of training and treat them well. They truly are the key to turning a good company into a great one.