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IMPACT Coach, Lisa Chandler, shares tips designed to help make the transition into a management position smooth and successful.
http://video.about.com/management/Tips-to-Transition-Into-a-Management-Position.htm
A client called me this week. She had just finished a meeting with her boss. In the past several months her boss has been bullying her (she is one of the women I talked about in my last blog).
She said to me:
“I walked in to the meeting and I thought to myself, “I am a peer of this man and I am not going to let him push me around.”
I sat down across from him and we had our meeting. I was brilliant and it was liberating. I challenged him when I didn’t agree. I stood up for myself. I wasn’t defensive. I didn’t argue. I did what we discussed. I was factual, clear and focused and it felt great!”
Enough said.
I just left a meeting with a talented young woman. She is about a year into her first real leadership role. She is passionate about her team and about what she wants to accomplish. She is bright and energetic. Any organization would be happy to have her. There is one small “hitch”. This woman is getting “hammered” (her words) by one of her colleagues. Her colleague is an older man. This man takes every opportunity to criticize her to anyone who will listen. She is tired and frustrated and is wondering if she is cut out for leadership. The problems with this colleague have gotten worse over the past few weeks. He has taken his criticism to the highest level in the organization. Her question to me, “Why doesn’t he just do his job and leave me alone?”
I have worked with a number of other women who have had some similar experiences—different people, different details but the same basic story—young woman leader feeling bullied by an older male colleague or boss.
I have been thinking about why. Each woman I have worked with has what I call a “big” personality. Each can be direct and outspoken. Each is a high achiever and each can be easily hurt through criticism. These traits make these women more of a “target” for the bad behaviour of others. The more successful they are, the more they are noticed. The more sensitive to criticism, the more likely they are to be bullied. What can these women do about it?
“Don’t let them hurt you”. (a quote from one of these women)
You can’t control them. You can only control you. Complaining about their behaviour in an organizational setting is risky and rarely works. Recognize that sometimes people are bullies and that life is not always fair. Don’t take the behaviour of others personally and don’t ever let someone else make you feel inadequate. If you are able to do that you will become more personally powerful and less of a target. The bullying will likely stop.
From Jim Collins - he outlines Five Key Things to Consider When Looking for the Right People
A great summary of some of the key concepts in Michael Watkins book First 90 Days. First 90 Days is a business classic and should be required reading for every new leader.
Here’s a good summary of the “top ten skills leaders need for the future.” I would say these are all needed now and have always been needed.
http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2009/05/leader-of-future-ten-skills-to-begin.html
Here is a short article on why onboarding is so imperative. Onboarding has a significant impact on a leader's success. It is written by Michael Watkins the expert on new leaders.
http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2007/06/help-newly-hired-executives-adapt-quickly/ar/1
You've just been promoted to your first job as a manager. Congratulations! But beware: This is a tough transition. What got you promoted -- sterling individual performance -- isn't what your new job is about. As a manager, you'll need to focus not on yourself but on everyone else: getting the best performance from your team and developing your employees' skills and potential.
Read "Moving from 'Me' to 'We'" from Harvard Business Publishing.
Patrick J. McKenna, David H. Maister
Whether you have recently been appointed as a group leader or are a battle-scarred veteran, you know that managing professional people is difficult! In this unique handbook, Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister argue that leaders will best enable their people to achieve peak performance not by managing them, not by leading them, but by inspiring them.
The authors show you how to actually add value as a group leader or induce people to accept your guidance, even with intelligent professionals who are often free-agents accustomed to having automony to work on grueling assignments with little supervision. They also give advice on how to handle those oh-so-talented but oh-so-annoying professionals who exhibit attitude problems or are just exceedingly difficult to work with, when you need them but they tend to needle you.
Michael D. Watkins
Whether challenged with taking on a startup, turning a business around, or inheriting a high-performing unit, a new leader''s success or failure is determined within the first 90 days on the job.
In this hands-on guide, Michael Watkins, a noted expert on leadership transitions, offers proven strategies for moving successfully into a new role at any point in one''s career. The First 90 Days provides a framework for transition acceleration that will help leaders diagnose their situations, craft winning transition strategies, and take charge quickly.
Practical examples illustrate how to learn about new organizations, build teams, create coalitions, secure early wins, and lay the foundation for longer-term success. In addition, Watkins provides strategies for avoiding the most common pitfalls new leaders encounter, and shows how individuals can protect themselves-emotionally as well as professionally-during what is often an intense and vulnerable period.
Concise and actionable, this is the survival guide no new leader should be without.
Few companies develop a systematic ''on-boarding'' process for their new leaders, even though this is a critical function with major organizational implications. Michael Watkins''s The First 90 Days provides a powerful framework and strategies that will enable new leaders to take charge quickly. It is an invaluable tool for that most vulnerable time-the transition.
