I recall the first time that I moved into a managerial role. Like many early careers, I had worked as an individual contributor in my first assignments. Sure, I had been on teams, but now as a manager I was anxious to have my own team. I could now apply all those leadership principles that I had learned. I was confident that I would ride in to this department on my white horse and the team would follow me, the hero leader that I hoped I could be.
Then reality happened. I quickly learned that leadership is hard work. I was there not to be savior but to serve others and I had to service many different stakeholders, including my direct reports, management above me and even our customers. This is a variety of people with various motivations and agendas. Those people that I was now responsible for had their own ideas of what a leader looks like. In any leadership role, you will not always be popular. You will have to make decisions that people may not like such as setting performance expectations, approving or denying leave requests, and managing conflict. I had to provide other direction such as scheduling overtime, enforcing standard procedures, and providing performance feedback. None of these could be positively received by 100% of the population. I had the epiphany that being a manager is not about being popular. It is about being the best servant you can be to all those who are counting on you. To be successful with this new role, there are two key mindset shifts that you need to recognize and embrace.
A foundational shift for anyone making the move from an individual to a leader is going from a “I” perspective to a “we” mindset. This shift involves making a shift from a self-involved perspective; your work, your contributions, your credit, to a “we” mindset. It is not about just your ideas but rather what is best for the team. This meant viewing problems and issues as collective ones that we needed to solve together versus me solving them on my own. Your focus now needs to be not on developing only your skills but supporting the growth and development of others which is an awesome responsibility. Additionally, it meant being transparent with your thought process and sharing why certain decisions were being made. And that team includes not just those who report to you, but peers, other managers, and even the boss.
The biggest challenge with this shift is that it can be difficult to do especially in the face of stress and pressure. When we are under the gun, it is easy to revert back to what is comfortable which often reverts back to an “I” perspective. When the heat turns on (and it will), you need to remember that you have a team to direct, support, and utilize to respond appropriately. You will also need to foster allies to influence for positive results, and good leaders know they need to develop the organizational network to respond to challenges or back their initiatives. Stressful events are an important time to build trust with your direct reports and to define your management style. The key is to stay calm and remember your principles. When making a decision, ensure that it is based on what is fair, consistent and equitable for all parties involved, including those who may not agree with the decision itself.
As an individual contributor, it is so easy and even acceptable to talk with others about organizational decisionmakers referring to them as “they”. “They” want you to implement this program. “They” want you to embrace this change. “They” want us to work overtime on Saturday and miss your brother-in-law’s cookout. This mysterious “they” is responsible for ALL the tough decisions. Now, as a manager of a team within the organization you need to work to eliminate the word “they” from your vocabulary. Now you have to say “we” decided to go in this direction and this is why.
As a leader within the organization, you are now expected to represent direction as though you are part of the decision-making team; which you are. This doesn’t mean that you are a push over in the organization. Within the powers of your position, you need to contribute your ideas, opinions, relevant data and help the organization make informed decisions. Once the decision is made though, part of what you signed up for is to help implement and align your team to the direction of the organization. This of course assumes that the decision is legal and ethical. If you find you often can’t support organizational directions to your team as “we” that organization does not align with your principles which is a red flag sign that you need to look elsewhere to be a leader.
A great example of this can be found in the movie Apollo 13 which describes a real-life situation when NASA high command made a decision to ground Ken Mattingly and fly Jack Swigert in his place as the back-up. This was due to an exposure concern to the German Measles that Mattingly did not have immunity to. Mattingly had trained extensively for the mission and it meant everything to him to go. Even though the mission commander Jack Lovell argued vehemently up the chain that Mattingly was not sick, to let him fly and that the risk was minimal, the senior leadership over ruled his position. For the mission, the risk was greater than the needs of the individual. Even though it wasn’t his decision, when he told Swigert that he was grounded he stated that it was his call as the team leader and that he fully supported the decision.
No doubt about it, being a manager is hard work but it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences. When you see those that, you manage grow and develop in their roles, it is a truly amazing feeling. Additionally, as a manager, you have the opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives. You can help them overcome challenges, support them during difficult times and be there to celebrate their successes. One-on-one coaching can be a great support to really help a person make the adaptation from an individual contributor to the new perspective and be set up for success.
This blog post is in no way exhaustive but highlights some of the main differences that I experienced when making this transition. If you have any questions or would like to chat more about this topic, feel free to reach out to me. I would be happy to chat with you further!