It happens in many industries. A talented knowledge worker who consistently performs at their best is promoted into a managerial position to lead a team. Their work has historically led to profits, growth, and innovation. They bring insights and new ideas, and they’ve made an impact.
These high performers can be in a variety of fields, including:
- Programmers
- Healthcare clinicians
- Scientists
- Creatives
- Network engineers
- Cybersecurity experts
- Engineers
Now, it’s time for this high performer to use their knowledge and experience to lead a team in doing the same. While the transition to management can be exciting, it also comes with unique challenges.
What got this high performer to this promotion are not the same skills that will help them as a leader. Now, they have an entirely new set of skills that they’ll need to develop, such as:
- Hiring new employees
- Onboarding and training
- Performance reviews
- Team enablement
- Career development and coaching
- Team building and culture
- Effective meeting management
- Project management
- Strategic planning
In many cases, these new leaders must quickly transition from a comfortable role into doing things they’ve never done before.
High performers can feel challenged by leadership
Many new managers feel unprepared for their roles, with a significant percentage reporting they received little to no training when transitioning to management.
A promotion can often overwhelm many new managers, feeling they don’t belong in their roles.
New managers may struggle with feelings of:
- Imposter syndrome
- Anxiety
- Feeling self doubt
- Isolation
- Confusion about expectations
- Perfection paralysis
Leaders who promote new managers without equipping them with the skills to lead set them up for stress and even failure. Doing so can even cause new managers who are succeeding to question whether or not they’re in the right role for their fulfillment.
How to best equip new managers
When promoting a high performer into a leadership role, providing the support needed for your new manager to be effective and successful is critical. They’re entering a new role altogether. You wouldn’t expect a new hire to walk into a new job without onboarding. Consider a promoted leader as one who needs training, education, and support so they can find success, too.
Self knowledge is key
When a new manager takes on the role of leading a team, it is a critical time for them to get to know what fulfills and motivates them. They can easily do so by exploring their MCode Motivational Dimensions.
They’ve had some clear successes in an organization and have stories on which Motivation Code uncovers what fulfills them. Taking the Motivation Code assessment as they are taking on a new role can help new managers understand what made them successful so they can more fully lean into their core motivations.
Managing former peers
It’s common for new managers to lead their former peers. This new promotion can create awkwardness and require a careful balancing act to maintain relationships while establishing authority. Provide support for understanding new relationship dynamics so that new managers can transition interpersonal relationships in a productive and fulfilling way.
Motivation Code can help here, too. As an entire team gets to know their own unique Motivational Dimensions, a new leader can see their former peers in a new way. Knowing their direct reports’ motivations helps new managers set themselves up for success by understanding the topography of their team. As they learn to lead, they also learn to lead by connecting to the unique motivations of their people.
Shift in mindset and priorities
As an individual contributor, a high performer’s success was largely measured by personal output and expertise. As a manager, success now depends on their team’s performance metrics, requiring a fundamental shift in thinking. New leaders must focus on enabling their direct reports to succeed rather than their own individual success.
Developing new skills
Management requires a different skill set than individual contribution. Skills like delegation, coaching, giving feedback, and conflict resolution become crucial. In fields where burnout and stress are high, such as with caregivers in the healthcare field, looking for signs of stress and burnout and working to solve this becomes critical.
Many new managers find themselves unprepared for these aspects of the role and must rapidly develop these capabilities. Training can help them develop these skills and prioritize them.
Of course, these important communication skills are complemented by a better understanding of their direct reports. Knowing what to say to an Achiever versus a Relator is critical when empowering a team member.
Broader organizational perspective
Individual contributors often have a deep but narrow focus. Managers must develop a wider view of the organization, understand how their team’s work fits broader goals, and collaborate across departments.
Providing opportunities to work with other departments and managers can help broaden this perspective so that managers can more effectively lead their teams and meet organizational objectives.
Increased visibility and pressure
With greater responsibility comes greater scrutiny. New managers often feel additional pressure as their team’s performance directly reflects on them. Ensure that new managers get the coaching they need to understand how leadership will be evaluated and what expectations you have for them. Help them lean into their Motivational Dimensions to remain fulfilled and empowered in their leadership.
Time management challenges
Managerial work often requires more frequent meetings, interruptions, and competing priorities. Shifting away from long stretches of focused individual work can be challenging for new managers.
Providing managers with effective time management training and strategies for handling meetings can be helpful. Ensuring that meetings have a specific purpose, are time-limited, and only require the attendance of needed participants can help.
Emotional labor
Managing people means dealing with various personalities, conflicts, and personal issues. This emotional aspect of the job can be draining for those previously focused on only their own performance. Bringing in tools to help team members better understand each other can help.
Motivation Code is uniquely suited for this. When a Visionary team member understands that they’re working amongst Optimizers, the Visionary can better understand the motivations of their co-workers, giving them more grace and flexibility in their interpersonal communications.
Maintaining technical skills
Many new managers struggle to balance staying technically sharp with their new responsibilities as new treatment modalities, programming languages, or technologies become available. This can lead to fears of becoming outdated or losing the respect of their teams.
Knowing yourself
For knowledge workers considering this transition, it’s important to honestly assess whether management aligns with your strengths and career goals. While it can be rewarding, it’s not the only way to advance your career or increase your impact.
Motivation Code can help you better understand what fulfillment led to your new role and how to best navigate new expectations and responsibilities. When you know what those elements are, you can more easily lean into what fulfills you and what motivates you.
Leaders must empower other leaders
Navigating the challenges of new roles takes time, patience, and guidance from mentors or training programs. Organizations can support this transition by providing clear expectations, training, and ongoing support for new managers and their teams.
If you’re looking to empower new managers as your organization grows and scales, bring Motivation Code to your new managers and their teams so they can more fully understand the people they’re managing and leading. Reach out to our team to learn more and help your new leaders grow in their ability to create success throughout your teams.
