Congratulations, you’ve been given your first managerial promotion!
You’ve been promoted and you are now a leader, and I bet you earned your stripes by working hard, making mistakes, taking risks and persevering. However, what worked well in the past might not work in your new position, and many new leaders don’t figure that out until it’s too late.
Consider the following list of common mistakes, developed through my own experience and interviews with a few dozen experienced leaders who, like you and me, have made a fair share of mistakes.
Do any of these resonate with you?
Overconfidence in your strengths – This is the belief that doing more of the same things that got you the promotion will make you successful. The reality is that success in the new position will likely require you to stop doing some of the old, while developing new skills.
Acting too fast – You make it a personal goal to put your stamp on the organization. You get busy chasing quick wins to impress others and miss critical learning and insights that would have helped you in the long run. Assuming you must take action way sooner than you should usually creates resistance from your team.
Accepting unrealistic/unclear expectations – You are so ready to start that you neglect to establish clear, achievable objectives for yourself and your team. Over-eagerness to impress can result in failure to meet the expectations of your boss and other key stakeholders. Do you know what the goals of the company actually are?
Attempting to do too much – You rush off in all directions, launching multiple initiatives at the same time, believe you’re creating a lasting first impression. The result? Your team becomes confused, frustrated and fails to focus on the critical few initiatives that are correct priorities for the business.
Thinking that you have to have “THE” answer – You were given the promotion, so you must have all the answers, right? You’ve heard the feedback from your superiors, so you quickly define “the” problem and decide on “the” best solution. Doing this will alienate those who could give you a different perspective of what’s going on. Worse, you kill opportunities to develop support for reasonable solutions.
Engaging in the wrong type of learning – Fearing your lack of technical knowledge might hurt you, focusing on learning the technical aspects of the job becomes top priority, and you fail to take time to build peer relationships and truly understand the cultural and political nuances of your new role. Recognize that you don’t yet know what soft skills are needed to succeed, and you may miss opportunities to build supportive alliances early on.
Have you made any of these mistakes in the past? I know I have. As you make your way into your new role, ask yourself: “Am I in danger of making any these mistakes?” And if so, take a step back and re-evaluate your actions.
Take charge of your career future.
If you’d like a boost in the right direction, let’s talk. I’m a leader like you who’s done it, and I’d be happy to be your HeartCore mentor and guide you to your next level of success. Just send me a note at [email protected]
