A brand new management position brings new challenges – are you prepared?
I remember the day well. I started working with an executive who had been promoted to senior management team and had taken on significant new roles. This was an incredibly smart, capable, and deserving leader.
As we discussed his new position, I shared with him what I had learned from working with other executives in the same situation who had progressed with the best of intentions without considering some of the new skills needed to make a successful transition are.
New leadership, new skills
"I'm ready," he said. "After all, management wouldn't have picked me if they didn't think I was ready." His confidence had always served him well.
"It's not about readiness," I told him. “It's about new approaches that are critical at this stage of your career. Much of what has worked for you in the past will still work well, and there are a whole host of new skills that few people have expect. This will give you a new level of development. "
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Common leadership challenges
He had a compelling vision but was never asked to apply that vision to so many people in so many different places in his organization. He struggled with developing and formulating strategies that are one of the most common challenges facing leaders. He was good at motivating people, but not at inspiring them. He was aware that his words and actions were the same, but he had never been able to affect the overall results of the organization and the livelihood of its employees so much. He wasn't used to people watching his every move and analyzing every word.
It is a truism that leaders don't hear what they don't want to hear. I suggested creating a leadership platform for him. "Don't need it," he said.
Fast forward six months. "Do you remember the conversation we had?" he asked me and caught me in the hallway. "I wasn't open to your perspective and now I am."
While it felt good to hear that, it would have been even better to help him avoid some of the natural pitfalls he has faced over the past six months. We finalized a news platform for him as part of a larger development plan that helped him formulate his strategy, share compelling stories, work on his skills, and make sure his actions correspond to what he said.
What advice are you getting today that you may need to be more open to?
– David Grossman
Contact us today to solve new leadership challenges and develop and articulate your strategy for your team!