In most organizations we believe that leadership is important. But at the same time, we invest embarrassingly little in the most vulnerable group of managers: the beginners.
What challenges do novice managers face? Is it true that they usually have to figure it out themselves? And what are practical advice based on research?
From colleague to boss
For most people it is a big, exciting, complex transition: the step from individual worker to manager. This is what a Harvard professor says, for example Linda Hill, who intensively followed a group of novice leaders for more than a year. Suddenly it’s no longer about you and the quality of your work, but about the people in your team and what they do.
To succeed, you have to change. All kinds of new behavior is expected of you. Dividing work, building relationships with team members, encouraging change and learning, representing your team to the outside world. That causes quite a bit of stress and uncertainty.
But your way of thinking will also have to change. Maybe you were very focused on performance in your previous role. This may well have contributed to your promotion to manager. But a manager who wants to dot the i’s and cross the i’s in everything drives his employees crazy. And anyone who expects top performance from themselves in a new, complex role will inevitably end up disappointed.
Wait ten years
According to consultant and researcher Jack Zenger, we wait not just a little, but way too long before training novice bosses. In an article he calculates – based on international data on more than 17,000 managers – that most managers have to wait more than ten years for their first leadership training. According to Zenger, they develop all kinds of habits during those years that ultimately prove ineffective. This is harmful to themselves, the employees and the organization as a whole.
At a recent seminar for Dutch government managers, I asked via Mentimeter – an online voting system – whether the participants had received training or education in leadership from their employer before starting in that role. 149 people answered ‘yes’, 554 people ‘no’. About 80 percent therefore had to start managing without serious preparation. Quite painful.
Better guidance
How can this be better? What can companies do for aspiring executives and their team members? A few suggestions.
According to researcher Maria Plakhotnik, companies must first choose what they want to pay attention to when selecting new managers. Communication skills are often important, pleasure in dealing with other people, the ability to listen well. That kind of thing.
Plakhotnik also advocates setting up a training program for new managers that starts well before they start leading a team. The benefits: people can think carefully about whether they actually want to start managing, and when they take the step, they can avoid important rookie mistakes. After the switch, you should mentor new managers for at least another six to twelve months, says Plakhotnik.
What you emphasize in this guidance depends on the situation. For example, it matters whether the new manager was previously a member of the same team or comes from outside.
A new ‘mindset’
Researcher Bret Crane argues that we should not only pay attention to practical skills, but also to the ‘mindset’ of novice leaders. Why? Many high-performing professionals – the group from which companies typically recruit new executives – have ideas about their work that revolve around themselves. It’s about their performance, their personal qualities and their success. A training program for novice leaders, says Crane, should teach participants that after their transition, it will be about providing space for others. For example, room to make mistakes and learn. Not the leader, but the team is central.
The findings of Linda Hill, the researcher I mentioned at the very beginning, are in line with this. According to her, it is essential that starting managers do not see their work as an ‘exam’, but as a ‘learning process’. She advises beginners to keep a log and reflect weekly: what worked, what didn’t, what have I learned? Also important: organizing frequent feedback, both from your own manager and from your team.
Practical
Let’s approach it positively. There is a lot of room to improve the support for novice managers.
– It is essential to start earlier. Well before someone makes the step from colleague to manager.
– Also important: intensive guidance in the first year. Do not emphasize performance and success, but rather on learning and growth.
Another nice addition. The Harvard Business Review recently listed what employees can do to help their ‘first time managers’. I took this out.
– Communicate abundantly. Ask for clarity and provide it yourself when it comes to expectations and agreements.
– Set a good example. Show in your own behavior what you mean by effective collaboration.
– And above all: have a little patience. Don’t take their rookie mistakes personally. They still have to learn the trade. And they don’t get much help with that. But if you help them become a good manager, you can enjoy it for years to come.
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