As mentioned in previous updates, the Rencai client delivery team is updated and improved for 2019.
Over the next few months we look forward to sharing more detail on our updated programmes that we’re delivering for clients to improve the performance of their business through increased leadership capability and employee engagement.
One of the key new support programmes we’re offering is for New and Inexperienced managers, a critical team in any business. With our clients we often find a clear opportunity for the whole business to benefit from investing in developing this team to be high-performing (and consistent) leaders.
Below, Beth Hood, a key member of our updated client delivery team alongside her partner Angela Weller, share some great insight for you if you find yourself in this position and seek to develop your competence in this area. Beth and Angela’s passion for Executive Coaching and Leadership Development make them great assets to our associate team and we look forward to partnering with Verosa on many projects moving forward.
Talent Fast Track: Support for New and Inexperienced Managers
It’s not uncommon in today’s fast-moving business world for talented, young or inexperienced individuals to find themselves suddenly in a management position with little or no background in leading and managing people.
Leadership is a skill – or rather, it is a range of skills, that can be taught, and practised, and polished. Some people are blessed with apparently natural talent as leaders and seem to take the move from talented individual to effective manager in their stride. For others of us, we will need more support and practice to get to where we want to be.
But the bottom line is, good leadership can be practised by anyone, provided they themselves get the right support and input they need on their management journey.
If you are new to a management and leadership role, have a look at the suggestions below for ways to help develop a positive leadership style – and remember that time and experience are the best sources of natural confidence, so don’t worry if you’re not ‘feeling it’ just now.
Be Sensitive
It’s important as a new manager to be sensitive. Try and remember what it felt like the last time you had a boss. It can be unsettling and disconcerting for your team and this is not the time to launch into a gung-ho, commandeering management style. Now is the time to listen hard to what is being said, and indeed to what is unsaid.
Be Consistent
It’s important your team knows where they stand with you, and so your approach needs to be consistent. Whether it’s the way you communicate business successes and challenges, or the way you deal with office mishaps, being consistent and fair will encourage your credibility. So, start as you mean to go on.
Be a Great Communicator
However embarrassed or awkward you might feel in these early days, it is really important to focus on getting clear messages across that are objective and constructive. Helping your team understand what you want from them is imperative. Practise hard – reflect on what has gone well and what you could do better. Don’t be afraid to seek support from your supervisors or from HR if, for example, you’d like guidance on conducting a performance review or on having a difficult conversation. If you can get some training for new managers, get it.
Be Receptive
Great managers always want to learn and never think they know enough. Take time to learn from your team, who may have more experience than you, and listen to what they have to say. Be open to the feedback you receive, wherever it comes from, but don’t allow it to dishearten or derail you. Feedback is a gift – it’s a chance for you to reflect, reassess and change the way you do something – or not, if you judge that is the right course of action.
Be a Motivator
Celebrate the successes of your them. Your personal work ethos will quickly translate into your team’s work ethos. So, make sure you reflect what you want your team to achieve, that you (collectively) have clear agreed goals, and that you’re forthcoming with praise, gratitude and trust.
And, importantly, take time to motivate your reports individually. By understanding what’s driving their own career aspirations and acknowledging the part you might be able to play in supporting their career development (and proactively following it up), you’ll win respect and develop a working relationship that’s mutually supportive.
Be Accountable
Being a manager means you are accountable for a portion of your employer’s business, and that means keeping good records – of the goals you yourself are given and of those that you give to your team. Be organised and encourage responsible behaviour amongst those around you.
Be Yourself
If I had to choose only one tip in this list to give you, it would be this one. You need to focus above all else on being authentic, and on finding a management style that is true to your personality and working style. If you try to transplant an approach that is at odds with your natural self – say, developing a ‘tough-guy’ persona that is at odds with how you behave in your home life – your reports are likely to see through you before too long.
Leading with integrity is the surest way to inspire respect, support and trust from those working for you.
If this resonates with you, or you feel your business may benefit from some further support in this area we’d be happy to learn more and talk you through some options that could benefit the leaders in your business moving forward.
Drop us a note at [email protected] or via the chat function on our homepage.
Thanks
Rencai
