“Am I getting it right?” – the question new managers constantly ask themselves
When someone is promoted to manager there are many positive thoughts: ‘I must be doing a great job”, “this is what I wanted”, “I can introduce changes I know need to happen”, “I can make a difference’. Whilst all of these are true, I don’t think many people consider how the responsibility of being a manager, and the continuing balancing act of what’s involved can create feeling of isolation and that reoccurring question “am I getting it right …?”
I don’t necessarily think it makes a difference which route you’ve taken to becoming a manager. If you are brought in from outside, it is maybe easier to differentiate that “colleague / manager dynamic” versus being promoted from within a team. In the latter situation, some can find it really difficult to create that distance and gain the respect when leaping from from colleague to manager. Sometimes you may have been part of group chats criticising a manager and the firm, you understand each and every frustration team members have, and yet there you are, now looking through a new lens supporting corporate changes and finding yourself on the side of the management team. However, it is important to now create that space in order to manage a team effectively.
Our experience shows that all of sudden going from being part of the team to leading the team can create huge loneliness. You are the sounding board for team members, but as you get more and more senior your own potential sounding boards diminish. You are “always on”, always thinking about a wider range of issues, and always thinking of others, and this can take its toll. Burnout doesn’t help anyone and so what can you do to lessen the impact of these changes and emotions? Here are some key points:
- Share your vision and expectations. Too many teams don’t perform well as they don’t understand what’s required of them or where they are going. Teams with a clear goal perform better.
- Delegating tasks can make it easier to not take on too much of the “stress and loneliness” and give you that breathing space to do your job. This can be hard if you’ve actually “done” the job you are now asking others to do, as you may feel it’s easier to just do it yourself, when in fact this is only a short term “win”.
- If you are a manager who spends a lot of non-work time focusing on the team, then you need to train youself to move away from this type of thinking and to understand that the team will benefit more if you’re refreshed.
- You need to identify which activities matter and which don’t, and to support the team in achieving these within a structured framework. Too much interaction will be seen as micro-managing, and too little as not being interested. Some managers schedule time every week for each member of their team for a quick catch up. They know they can call them outside of this, but it takes the pressure off the manager and allows time for strategic planning and the inevitable non managerial expectation a senior position demands.
- Identify your own “advisory board”. This could be a former manager, colleague, friend, or senior team member who you can bounce generic ideas and thoughts off. Pick people for the skills you don’t have yourself.
- Task your team with solving problems amongst themselves. It will empower them and they often know the answers.
- If in doubt, default to trust. Your team members might sometimes let you down, but trust is motivational and will get you further in the long run.
- Recognise that management requires different skills than the ones that made you successful at the job you were doing as an individual contributor. Take time to develop your management skills, just like you did with your other skillsets.
- Work on being self-aware. You need to manage your own emotions and to be aware of your own strengths and inevitable weaknesses. Managers need to also understand that their standard approach may not be appropriate for everyone they manage. The ability to adapt, compromise, and connect is key.
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About Fram Search
Established in 2010 by Simon Roderick, a recruiter with 20 years City recruitment experience, Fram Search is a specialist financial services recruitment consultancy. We focus on permanent and interim recruitment in the UK & internationally.
We provide high quality contingent and retained recruitment to boutiques and global brands. We have long established relationships and access to deep talent pools. Fram takes a highly consultative approach, and we have a quality over quantity ethos. We are proud that our contingent fill rate is nearly three the industry average and we augment our retained search methodology with rigorous psychometric testing. Champions of diversity & inclusion, all staff have undertaken unconscious bias training.
Please contact us on 01525 864 372 / [email protected] to learn more.
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