I've always wanted to discuss this topic - what happens to a person who suddenly gets promoted to a management position, say, a Team Lead or Team Manager from being an Agent? Why do they (most of them, not all) forget what they used to be or what they used to do? How can you be a great Manager to your team? How would you balance your responsibilities to your team members and your customers ?

Hi Johnny,

Great questions. Individual contributors need to have a certain set of skills. Managers need to also have a certain set of skills. Rarely do the 'twain meet.

Let's say you are an agent, at the top of your game. You understand the industry inside-out. You know what you need to do to get the job done. You are successful, and your successes bring you into the company spotlight. When there is an opening, management looks at you and says "There is someone who can really do the job and get the job done."

So they promote you...a highly successful "lone wolf" ... and put you in charge of a department. The lone wolf skills, those very attributes that got you to the position, no longer are viable...at least not in the same way they once were.

You are no longer doing what you do best...you are now in unfamiliar territory, having to manage people and the work flow, the reporting, the budgeting, the marketing, etc., etc., and those are functions that you have not had to deal with previously.

That, in a nutshell, is why "they forget what they used to be or what they used to do."

Which is one of the prime reasons an organization must have a succession management plan. We need to identify our future candidates and offer them the training and development they need to continue to be a success at promotion time. Train for a level ahead of where the candidate is.

If you're asking these questions because you have found yourself to be in this position, my advice would be to actively seek out resources (training, mentors, books, etc.) to help bridge the gaps. Seek feedback from those who best know your work habits, and be open to the constructive feedback you may receive. As you learn your way, continue to seek feedback, and continue to be open to acting upon it.

Best wishes,
Karen

Hi Karen,

Thank you for your comments. I must say I agree with everything you say. Infact, I share the same views myself.

However, the reason I asked these questions is because I am seeing so many "Lone Wolf" managers in the industry - who don't realize the damage they are causing to the careers of those working under them. I beleive in the saying "People join companies, but leave their managers!"

True, every organization should have a successful management programme - especially for these newbies. But that does not happen most of the time - companies are so hard pressed for time and resources, compounded by never-ending attrition, that the most important requirement of properly training the managers is not fulfilled. So, its a never ending cycle.

Now, here comes the most difficult question - we all know what is happening - but what can we do about it ? How can we generate enough interest in a person, who, probably works 11 to 12 hours a day and barely has time for anything else to seek out resources and more importantly, utilize them correctly? Please feel free to share any online resources, which you think could be helpful.

Thanks !
Johnny

Johnny, I see in your words some empathy for the recently promoted team leader who has some growing pains. I say that because you are identifying a specific reason for their perceived sudden arrogance or lack of compassion or their becoming "different" in some way or other. Your specific example is client needs that need to be balanced against the needs of team members. I'll try to speak within that example. Like you, I have an empathy for the growing pains of the people who must find the right balance for themselves in order to be effective and to be themselves. I recognize some of my challenges. And I am seeing symptoms like this in someone else who is new at present.

Karen has gone down the right road, from my perspective. Excellence in a person is now being transplanted, along with the PERSON, to another position, where excellence is not just in what is done but what is instilled and maintained in the people who have their own things to do in the team. I think it must be common for people that become new leaders (managers, whatever we're calling them) to have a rough time during the first 6 months to come to terms with the new position--whether it is within the same or a new company. They need absorb their pride in their accomplishment for a while. This is what does not change across all roles in a company, because everyone needs to be fulfilled in order to stay. It takes time for that pride to sink in and it also takes time to ward off the questions inside that go "What have I gotten myself into?" For some people (not everybody), the old spot where they used to sit looks like a comfy bed as they are getting used to the new leader role. And the new expectations (reporting and all the new jazz in that position) will feel like bad medicine. And as new leaders settle in, their attentions to people may be lacking. The team at large need to get past the potential for any fruitful ground to find fault and pass that mark where they can say "look how much he has changed" as well. It's always easier to bond through negativity than positivity, even when it was someone we once liked and were proud of. (As with politicians, every twitch suddenly becomes up for grabs and judgment.)

I think new leaders do themselves a favor when they face the fact that they are starting from the ground up again. And any good leader knows that everyone counts. They don't say that this role does "JUST the phones" and that department is "junior" to another. People who allow themselves to speak this way are masochists into the painful costs of replacing people and basically don't mind revealing themselves to be narrow-minded people who waste breath, time, money, the patience of others ,and definitely waste air someone smarter could suck in, while other companies accomplish something that lasts longer.

As I have preached in the past, every person contributes to success and there is something to be learned from all corners of a company. I say that not because I want to compete for the position of President of the United States, for which the race has become extremely interesting lately, but because I know that every person needs to be proud and satisfied, and to come back. If a banana peel is on the floor of my workplace, I am disappointed, because I need safe people and I need a place that is sightly for my clients to see and for me to be proud of. Thank goodness there is pride in a floor that does not have a banana peel dropped on it and left there for someone who is "low enough on the totem pole" to look after it.

And thank goodness for someone who understands how to appreciate the satisfaction each contributor needs to feel and to demonstrate this understanding in their speech, in the their body language and in the time they make for people.

New leaders need to learn a new job, and their job is people and things done by people. Either people or things can suffer during this settling-in.

They are balanced by:

-engaging the people that report to you, being there, being away, then coming back (not forever there or forever gone)
-asking to learn from people that report to you
-sharing examples of good work or things the leader has learned amid the team
-thanking a team member for helping the leader to address a client issue, occasionally making this known for the benefit of all in the team
-engaging the team members for ideas that will help them prevent problems based on the things they have learned
-tapping into what team members want for themselves as contributors to a larger group that needs everyone to think as a group
-doing what you said you would do
-maximizing the moments you can be seen smiling
-avoiding crossing the arms (this is shielding oneself from fear--or that is what is perceived to be, regardless of what you thought you were doing)
-not for everyone, but I make fun of myself
-not for everyone, but I have created humor every day even through the most unpleasant of periods
-encouraging a group culture of sharing of information (or cross-training)
-saying that "I have an investment in you knowing how to" and "I have an investment in you learning how to" and "we have an investment in being able to (this is how to ensure that the individual souls that need to "feel" their contribution keep doing what they do and want others to share in it!!). I haven't copyrighted this, but I call it Team Investment and I find some way of incorporating it into my performance reviews, no matter what I am overseeing.
-realizing that people will not complete/achieve in the same manner as others or as the leader, but finding a way for it to be understood by all
-embracing the concept that you can't look at work to be completed as something that may need to be done by the leader "if".....Work is completed by team members because the leader consistently shows that he/she is energized by people working together toward a solution
-recognizing that a feeling of uselessness is not bad and may be a fleeting thing (if they can do it without you, you've done your job--and they don't want you to leave, because that's where your job continues)

I guess I am rather morale-centric or employee-centric in the way I address this topic. I have relished a number of different types of projects I have worked on, dabbling in some technical here and some marketing support there, internal collaboration here and client-facing there, but I can't say I have had a feeling, as a contributor to anything, that has surpassed the one that includes seeing signs that people agree that they matter. In fact, it's been one of THE things that keeps me where I am instead of spreading my wings elsewhere, and I have definitely questioned where I should be flapping them next.

Not everyone is the same (thank GOODNESS), but I think some of what I say needs to be in the wings of the "new leader."

Not as prolific as I used to be, so this might be a long "see you next time" :)

As a manager, the resposibilities are:-
we should motivate the people to achieve the organizational goal...Encourage them to be honest with you.
we should train them in a proper manner so that they do not struggle to understand what we want to train..
Always remind people that if they have any questions or concerns, you're ready and willing to listen. Don't be one of those managers who inadvertently makes an employee feel like they're bothering you when they bring up a question or concern.
Treat everyone equally.