3 Tips for Surviving as a First Time Manager

Hello Everyone!

I saw a great article on Forbes that talks about being a first time manager- I hope you guys get some good tips from here that will help you transition into the management role.

3 Tips for Surviving as a First Time Manager by Bill Gentry

Your first management job is a big win – a sign that you’ve done something right in your career. It’s also the first time that your success is completely tied to the performance of other people.

Those other people are your former peers, maybe even your current friends, and everyone feels a little weird now that you’re the boss.

Some of those other people have more experience and longer tenure at the company. At least one of them probably wanted the promotion, too – and isn’t too happy to be working for you.

Most likely, a few of your direct reports are much older than you. And I guarantee your team won’t be made up of people who think exactly like you, work just like you and act completely like you.

So what’s a first-time manager to do? If you’re lucky, you have an awesome boss, a company with a big training budget, and some wise mentors to help you figure out what you need to learn and how to learn it. Meanwhile, I offer three strategies to help you survive the first-time manager blues and boost your ability to be an effective leader.

It’s Not Me, It’s You.

Ever been dumped before? I bet the excuse you heard was “It’s not you, it’s me.” One of the simplest strategies to becoming an effective leader is to switch a couple of those words and adopt the following: “It’s not me, it’s you.”

When you’re promoted to a management job, the pressure is on. It’s tempting to be self-absorbed in your efforts to prove your value. That’s what got you promoted in the first place. But that’s the opposite of what you should do as a first-time manager. Instead, consider the other person’s perspective, needs, interests, skills and preferences. This simple mindset shift will go a long way toward working through the challenges of your new role.

As soon as you are promoted, get on the calendar of each of your direct reports to have an individual meeting that is all about them. Find out during that meeting what motivates them, what they like about their work, how they like to be led and what questions they have. Then talk about your vision for the group and how they can be a part of it.

When you start to figure out how to influence and communicate and motivate people in a way they care about – not just the way that is easy for you – you’ll start to be more effective as a leader.

Mentor others for a double win.

Mentoring has its benefits, usually for the one being mentored. But Center for Creative Leadership research has shown that mentoring can also benefit the manager who does the mentoring.

Managers who provide career-related mentoring to their direct reports by providing sponsorship, coaching and challenge are actually rated as better performers in their job by their boss.

Refer back to the “It’s not me, it’s you” approach and have regular check-in meetings with all of your direct reports every month or two. Give regular feedback – both positive and constructive. Mentoring others helps you become more effective and efficient in your own job. You gain information and support, expand your power base and reputation, strengthen your credibility and earn respect.

You are 100% the boss, only 50% of the relationship.

When you are the boss, you are always 100 percent the boss. People’s eyes are always on you, whether you know it or not. They are looking at what you are doing and what you are not doing. They are interpreting what they see and hear.

Are you inadvertently giving your friends on the team more time and energy than others? Are you unclear about your expectations around the work – or inconsistent about them? Do you struggle to set boundaries? Any of these actions send the message that either you don’t know what you’re doing – or that you are intentionally supporting some people more than others.

But even though you are the boss 100 percent of the time, a relationship between two people takes, yes, two people. You bring 50 percent to it, and the other person brings 50 percent. Too many first-time leaders think they are responsible for the entire 100 percent – in every work relationship. And it can’t be done.

You can do everything you can to be the best boss, but some people will still not be satisfied. You cannot “make” people act a certain way or insist that they agree with or like your decisions. You have no control over what others feel about you. All you really have control over are your own thoughts, ideas, behaviors and actions. Your job is to make sure your 50 percent is right – and let the rest go.