{"id":10476,"date":"2023-08-22T07:08:06","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T07:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/manager-to-leader-tips-for-a-smooth-transition\/"},"modified":"2023-08-22T07:08:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T07:08:07","slug":"manager-to-leader-tips-for-a-smooth-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=10476","title":{"rendered":"Manager To Leader? Tips For A Smooth Transition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You may be familiar with Peter Drucker\u2019s assertion that management is doing things right and leadership is doing the right things.<\/p>\n

According to Drucker\u2019s view, you might say that a manager makes sure you climb a ladder efficiently while a leader makes sure your ladder is leaning against the right wall.<\/p>\n

These are succinct definitions, but of course in reality the roles often overlap. Some managers are very good at helping people catch the vision of what\u2019s possible, while some leaders are equally adept at making sure day-to-day deliverables are properly handled.<\/p>\n

Still, in most organizations there\u2019s a clear distinction between the roles of managers and leaders. And despite the many workplace paradigm shifts that occurred during the Covid pandemic, the view persists that career advancement requires a move from manager to leader.<\/p>\n

Adam Bryant offers a cogent analysis of the subject. He\u2019s the creator and former author of the iconic Corner Office column in The New York Times<\/em>, and is now senior managing director at The ExCo Group, a leadership development and executive mentoring firm. Based on his work with hundreds of successful CEOs and fast-rising executives, Bryant has distilled his key insights into The Leap to Leader: How Ambitious Managers Make the Jump to Leadership<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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What questions should people be asking themselves if they think they\u2019d like to move into a leadership role?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should invest the time to think about why<\/em> they want to lead others because these roles are often much harder than they appear,\u201d Bryant says. \u201cAs a leader, you\u2019re dealing with a lot of people problems and you\u2019re putting out a lot of fires. Because it\u2019s hard to get work done at work, you\u2019re often facing a three-shift day and the work will bleed into weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Too often, Bryant says, \u201cpeople can get enticed by a bigger title and the financial rewards that come with it rather than pausing and asking themselves if they really want to do the work that the job entails. Similarly, companies, when they are looking at their leadership pipeline and succession plans, too often just assume that every person wants to move up. So be clear about your \u2018why\u2019 to help you get through the tougher patches, because the sense of reward from a bigger title and higher pay tend to wear off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant says the biggest challenge for people who make the leap to leadership roles is the mindset shift they\u2019re required to make. \u201cAs a manager, there\u2019s usually an explicit outcome that you are expected to deliver,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re given resources such as time, manpower and a budget to execute the plan. As a leader, you have to think more broadly about opportunities and what the organization needs that maybe other leaders haven\u2019t considered. Doing that requires courage, and a willingness to take bets and own the consequences if things go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant says \u201cselfless versus self-centered\u201d is the central paradox facing leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders who are more selfless think first about the people they are leading and the organization,\u201d Bryant says. \u201cWhat\u2019s best for the people? They see their role more in terms of coaching people to unlock and develop their skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the paradoxes of leadership, Bryant says, is that the role is simultaneously about you and not about you. \u201cYes, you set the tone and direction as the leader, and all the signals you send\u2014verbal and nonverbal\u2014will carry an outsized impact. But the role isn\u2019t about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant quotes Christian Klein, the CEO of software company SAP, who said, \u201cFor me, what\u2019s important is that I\u2019m able, when I look at myself in the mirror in the morning, to answer the question, \u2018Is what we are doing absolutely the right thing to do in the midterm and the long term?\u2019 And as long as I can answer that question by saying yes, I know that I\u2019m doing the right thing for all stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some managers seem to assume that a Starbucks coffee card is the best (certainly one of the easiest) ways to recognize employee performance. What forms of recognition has Bryant found to be most helpful in reinforcing good performance?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true that people don\u2019t necessarily want a Starbucks coffee card,\u201d he says. They want somebody to come up to them and say, \u2018Thank you for the time, effort, and thought you put into that project, which resulted in X in terms of impact.\u2019 It\u2019s about saying, \u2018I see the contribution you made, and I appreciate you for it.\u2019 It\u2019s specific. It\u2019s about giving people feedback on the \u2018how\u2019 of what they did well and what they could do better next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another type of recognition, he says, is about the \u201cwho\u201d\u2014telling someone why it\u2019s important that they are on the team and what they bring to the table.<\/p>\n

How can a leader shorten the learning curve for new team members?<\/p>\n

Being a manager and a leader often requires telling people things they may not want to hear. Bryant has found some effective ways to develop and hone that skill?<\/p>\n

He acknowledges that difficult conversations are hard. He\u2019s found that one helpful approach is telling a direct report early on that you\u2019re going to give them a lot of feedback\u2014when they did something well and when they could have done something better. \u201cProblems often start when people let things build up,\u201d he says. \u201cBetter to give feedback in the moment and be direct, so that people become more used to it, and less defensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says another good approach is to frame the feedback in terms of wanting to help the other person succeed. \u201cIf you can clearly signal that you are on the person\u2019s side, and want the best for them, then they are more likely to be open to hearing the feedback on how to improve,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Bryant recommends something called the \u201cPost-it Note challenge,\u201d and he explains what it means for someone\u2019s personal and professional development.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders tend to have informal scouting reports on people in their organizations that are like three-word Post-it Notes that people have on their backs,\u201d he says. \u201cThe first word is the person\u2019s strength, followed by the word \u2018but,\u2019 followed by a skill that remains a question mark or is considered their weakness. Yes, it\u2019s not fair, and it\u2019s an overly simplistic way of looking at talent, but this is how the world works. Knowing that, people should manage their own Post-it Notes. If you\u2019re ambitious and want to advance but you have a perceived weakness or question mark, then do everything you can to remove that question mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s not uncommon for someone eager to \u201cmove up\u201d to seek a mentor. Bryant explains what he\u2019s found to be the keys to successfully finding, working with, and learning from a mentor.<\/p>\n

He says a lot of people make the mistake of simply approaching someone and saying, \u201cWill you mentor me?\u201d<\/p>\n

With that approach \u201cyou\u2019re asking for a commitment without clarity about you want or need or expect,\u201d he says. \u201cBetter to start small by asking someone you want to build a relationship with for their advice on a specific question. Then act on their advice and thank them for it, and then build from the relationship organically from there. Another key point is to make it easy for people to give you feedback. Make it clear that you want to learn and get better and that you\u2019re not going to be defensive about anything.<\/p>\n

Of all the factors that can help a leader be successful, Bryant says listening is among the most underappreciated skills.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>You won\u2019t find any courses on listening in MBA programs,\u201d he says, \u201cand yet it\u2019s an essential skill for effective leadership. The world is becoming so much more complicated, and so you need to listen carefully\u2014and know how to draw people out for their best thinking\u2014to illuminate any blind spots you may have.\u201d Bryant says really listening to people is also the best way to show people that you respect them. \u201cWhen leaders respect the people who work for them,\u201d he says, \u201cthey will earn respect, and followership, in return.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may be familiar with Peter Drucker\u2019s assertion that management is doing things right and leadership is doing the right things. According to Drucker\u2019s view, you might say that a manager makes sure you climb a ladder efficiently while a leader makes sure your ladder is leaning against the right wall. These are succinct definitions, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nManager To Leader? Tips For A Smooth Transition | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You may be familiar with Peter Drucker\u2019s assertion that management is doing things right and leadership is doing the right things. 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