In my opinion John Byrne's miniseries restored some much needed drama (look! He's STRAINING to lift that ship! The nuke actually stunned him and put some marks on him!)  to Superman. Yet Superman was still incredible enough to impress us, and even he seemed to be astounded at finding out just how high his new limits really were. 

Man of Steel also settled the whole 'Clark vs. Superman' idea in a VERY realistic and obvious way. Clark was no longer a doofus that Superman used to infiltrate the human race. Yet he also wasn't overly aggressive or vain. He was genuinely good at writing. He had a certain point of view. He had goals. He had ways of doing things that served him well. He belonged.  This all made him seem more approachable and "familiar". He had a real personality but was still portrayed as a kind and decent person with a bit more moral fiber than the normal person might have. 

Superman was his PR face and his public service mode. It was what he did for US because he loved being a human being and wanted to contribute to preserving the world that allowed him to lead his life. he knew that other people loved their lives as well and that he could be of great value to them if used his power to protect and assist them. He wasn't some faultless alien sentinel. He was truly invested in what he was protecting. (He's ALSO a client!) He saw himself as a human with super powers and not a super being that needed to feign humanity to better keep watch over it. Besides all that he was both fallible and very inventive with dealing with his limitations. (Can't see through lead? Hmmm. Where doesn't large amounts of lead belong in common civil engineering?! Ah! THERE!)

You could see yourself becoming much like this new Superman in your outlook if you worked at it and followed the example he set. That made him an improvement over the previous versions in my book. 

I think that the 'Man of Steel' Superman is a LOT like the 'New Look' Batman in terms of fixing what was broke, cleaning off the dross and detritus, and preserving the essential core while doing so. Anytime a new take on Superman comes out (say in an animated series or whatever) Man of Steel is what I compare it to. To me it is the gold standard for Superman (even without the Supermobile flying around in the background).