27/09/2024
How To Succeed As A New Leader
Congratulations on your promotion to Team Leader! How does it feel? Exciting times, right? Or quite scary?
For many people, being recognised for their excellent work and then promoted is a dream come true. They’ve wanted this moment for so long, and now it’s arrived….but it’s not how they imagined. Instead of being excited about what lies ahead, they feel nervous and lost.
The shift from being an individual contributor to leading a team brings with it a heap of new responsibilities, skills and expectations and, on top of this, you’ve still got your work to do!
Let’s take a look at some of the challenges.
• Moving from being a ‘doer’ to being a ‘leader’
• Delegating to your former colleagues
• Managing your former colleagues
• Establishing yourself as a credible leader
• Handling the range of new expectations
• Building your confidence
What can you do to make your transition to leader successful?
* Moving from being a ‘doer’ to being a ‘leader’ requires a change of mindset. You need to step back from doing as you’ve always done, which isn’t always easy. Letting go of a task you really enjoyed doing can be upsetting, but you need to let go. You’ll have strategic work to do so you, as well as planning how you will lead your team, what training they might need, or support with their work. If you try to keep ‘doing’, you’ll not dedicate enough time to leading, which will cause an imbalance in your team.
* Delegating to your former colleagues may seem daunting at first, but you should embrace it. It’s not about offloading your work but about empowering your team to grow. It gives them the opportunity to learn about a new process or improve their skills. It demonstrates that you recognise each person's strengths and trust them to do a good job. Trust in a team is the foundation of success. Delegate strategically by giving tasks that match the person’s skills rather than something they will struggle with. You can train them on new tasks at a later stage.
* Managing your former colleagues may feel strange initially, but it’s all about balancing authority with maintaining relationships. You need to talk to your team early on about your new responsibilities and also theirs so they know what’s expected of them and how you will work together. Have one-to-one meetings early on to listen to people's concerns or ideas about improving the team. Again, this helps build trust and shows you wanting to support your team in your new leadership capacity.
* Establishing yourself as a credible leader means being self-aware of your emotional triggers to avoid making impulsive decisions and lead with a calm and thoughtful leadership style. Don’t overpromise and underdeliver; be fair and consistent with how you treat team members. Your best friend might be one of your team members, but this doesn’t mean they should be treated differently than their colleagues. And as tempting as it might be, never gossip about people!
* Handling the range of new expectations means quickly getting to grips with your new tasks (hopefully, the previous leader will give you a thorough handover) and then becoming an expert on time management. It might feel overwhelming at first as you navigate your new workload, but it’s also the time when delegation can be really useful. If you need help working out what to tackle first, check out the Eisenhower Matrix, which is a way to organise your tasks by urgency and importance to effectively prioritise your work.
* Building your confidence will come over time. It’s natural to feel lost and in a muddle about what you need to focus on, and this can make you doubt yourself and knock your confidence. Be fair to yourself and give yourself a chance. Set yourself small but achievable goals - each win will boost your confidence. Connect with other leaders who can offer guidance and share their experiences with you. And don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake. Learn from it and move on.
As a leader, you are there to set a good example for people to follow. Think about how you act and behave and modify it if necessary. Be the kind of boss YOU'D like to be led by.
Do You Need Some Support?
Customised coaching can help you become a great leader, and I’d love the opportunity to help you achieve this. Book a free 20-minute discovery call with me, and let’s explore how I can help you through this transition and achieve your goals.
email me at: [email protected]
