So you’ve nailed the interviews, bagged that new position and are on your way up the career ladder. Whether you’re progressing within a company or starting somewhere new, this new managerial role means great things for your future. Congratulations! Time to celebrate this exciting new chapter. Of course, the doubts and nerves may begin to set in once the celebrations end. If you’re moving up within the same company, you may be worried about taking on a role of authority with colleagues who have become your friends. Repositioning yourself as senior to them might be daunting and perhaps a little awkward. There’s the threat of resentment and maybe a struggle on everyone’s part in moving out of old habits and into new. Alternatively, if you’re starting fresh at a new company, you have the challenge of facing a team that has worked together in a specific way without you. You have to learn their habits as well as the structure of the company, and bring your own experience and ideas while incorporating the best of theirs.
But don’t let that dampen the big move. These challenges can only be a good thing. The main thing to remember is that you earned this role. You nailed the interview process and now you’ll nail this new managerial role too. Granted, it might be easier said than done, but there is a whole host of expert advice out there for you to follow that will help you to tackle your new role with confidence. Because I can’t even manage my own dog, I’m leaving it to career coach Jo Thurman to give some tips about how to kill it in your first managerial position. You might want to bookmark this…
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Define your approach: So what sort of manager do you want to be? Take some time to think back to all the managers you have had over your career. How did they make you feel and how did that impact your engagement with the role and your performance? What behaviours did you respect and admire and what rankled and why? Observe the style of high achievers within the organisation that sit comfortably with you and cherry pick the best behaviours from your best managers and set that as your template for the manager you wish to become. Find a mentor in the company or outside. They don’t need to be in your sector; just someone who has been around the block a bit and has made their mistakes and can share some insight; someone you can trust to tell it how it is.
Be consistent: Having integrity, being fair, communicating clearly, being available, and acknowledging people’s efforts are typically high on the list of behaviours we hear that they want from their manager. So plan for regular team and one to one meetings; make it clear that you are always available for informal catch ups; always say thank you and praise effort and good work; never take the credit for someone else’s work; be clear about you expect in terms of performance, attendance and what you will do to help them achieve that. Don’t have favourites, treat everyone equally and if someone needs or deserves special treatment explain why. Creating a comfortable working environment will be essential to get the best from your team. When we speak with our clients about what is not working for them in their current career situation and what they would like to change it is so often more about the values and behaviours of the management team than the job content.
Take some time to think back to all the managers you have had over your career. How did they make you feel and how did that impact your engagement with the role and your performance? What behaviours did you respect and admire and what rankled and why? Observe the style of high achievers within the organisation that sit comfortably with you and cherry pick the best behaviours from your best managers and set that as your template.
Set boundaries: Perhaps the most challenging rise to manager is being promoted out of your team to manage your peers. You were no doubt great at your job, hence the promotion to manager, but it can cause all sorts of resentment and cries of why not me so you need to play it very straight. There has to be a change in behaviour immediately as suddenly the rules are different. While you don’t want to shut down friendships you need to set new boundaries now you are responsible for performance management. A good tip would be to call an early team meeting and share that this might be a little strange for all of you initially and then set out your expectations on how to want to work together.
Take time to observe: When you join a new business in a managerial role not only might you have a steep learning curve on new products, and processes; you have a whole people and political landscape to understand and navigate with your team, your peers and your managers. Commit to spending the first weeks meeting as many people as possible, listening and asking questions and gathering information. Hold your thunder on making radical changes, build trust, respect & strong relationships. Be absolutely clear on what is expected of you by your seniors. Ask for feedback on your management style as part of your regular review with your own manager as well as from your team.
Be patient: Bonding with your team won’t happen overnight. While you will need to treat everyone equally you also need to get to know their strengths and weaknesses, their personalities and work styles, their communication preferences so you can get the best from each of them. Learn something about their lives out of work and be genuine about your interest. You might look to have an early team meeting in a neutral off site – it doesn’t need to be costly perhaps volunteering your time to a local project could get everyone out of their comfort zone and forge relationships.
Becoming a successful manager will take time; it’s an ongoing process. Get it right and you will have a committed, loyal, high performing team and your career will go from strength to strength. Get it wrong and you could see your career stutter and your reputation diminish. Unsurprisingly, research shows people work hardest for the managers they respect; they leave poor managers rather than companies. You can learn on the job of course, but you can also plan for success by learning from your own experience, from a mentor and asking for the right internal or external management training.