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Managing the Transition From Worker to Boss Can Be Easier. Here’s How.
The biggest obstacle to success as a new manager? It’s you.
Over the years, I’ve come across several books with titles so apt to the subject matter, they actually capture the entire gist of the book in a handful of words. One of those is Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers; another is What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith. Both of these titles have resonance for the work we must do if we aspire to change work, change organizations, and critically, change ourselves.
And when you take on your first leadership role, changing yourself is your first task. New leaders who fail at this will struggle more than is necessary.
Looking back at new-to-the-role leaders I coached or taught, many entered management roles with excitement at achieving this career milestone, a position from which they believed they would finally be able to call the shots. The bump in salary and status were seen as validation that they had what it took to progressively build their careers.
Inevitably, the scales fall from their eyes and they learn the new job requires them to do two things that are profoundly uncomfortable if they are to prevail.
- One is to let go of what made them successful in the first place, those technical skills, and expertise honed over years;
- The other is to become a beginner again as they relinquish the familiar individual contributor role and step into the challenges of motivating, nurturing, and strengthening the people who now call them boss.
When I first started to work in this field, I believed if I helped entry-level managers with the essentials of team effectiveness, performance conversations, working through conflict, and communicating effectively, they’d be well on their way, having a solid foundation to build from.
With time, I realized that even as new people leaders adapted to the demands placed on them and learned these skills, many continued to struggle with a core facet of professional change: their evolving identity. Not only what they did on a day-to-day basis had changed, but the sense of who they were was disrupted. Almost everyone I coached said it…
