Becoming a new manager is one of the most difficult transitions in business. For first-time managers, moving from an employee concerned only about your own tasks to a role more broadly concerned with the accomplishments of others requires a major change of focus - and not always an easy one. With numerous studies showing employee engagement levels usually hovering dismally around 30 percent, there's no question management is a challenging discipline. Accordingly, as one who worked in management for several decades, and who worked with many new managers during that time, following are my perceptions of the two commonest mistakes new managers make.
They try to be their employees' best friend - It's only natural. In a new role, you want to be liked. But if you try too hard to be liked by everyone, this path just isn't sustainable. As a manager, you're of course responsible for delivering very specific results. When individuals or projects go off course, as they always at some point do, and when firm corrective action needs to be taken, as it always does, being a friend - and not a figure of authority - is no way to get those results. It's awkward, ineffective and confusing. New managers need respect more than friendship. While they need positive relationships, they also need to be listened to and taken seriously. Being a friend - a peer in essence - can undermine one's ability to get the necessary results.
They assert their newfound authority indiscriminately - This is the reverse side of the "friendship" coin. Some new managers, rather than wanting to be liked, are all too eager to wield their newfound power. It's true, power can be intoxicating, and it can take time to learn to use it judiciously and with discipline. Just as too little authority can hinder a new manager from delivering results, too much authority can as well. When new managers come on too strongly - especially to a veteran staff who know their jobs well - it only breeds resentment. Dollars to doughnuts, it's a recipe for employee frustration and alienation.
Ultimately, new managers need to strike a balance in how authority is exercised. Finding the right level of authority in which they will be respectfully listened to... and not taken advantage of or resented... is a challenge all managers face. How they approach this challenge - how they forge positive working relationships while maintaining control and delivering the results their own management expects - will help determine their long-term success in the role.
Other thoughts from readers on the particular challenges facing new managers? I'm always interested to hear them...
