10
Loading video...
By Brandy L. Simula
Expert Contributor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Navigating the transition from individual contributor to people leader is a significant career milestone. However, many new managers and people leaders feel overwhelmed and uncertain about how to succeed in their new roles. Because managers have a significant impact on employee productivity, engagement, retention and well-being, building skills that support effective people leadership is key.
Fortunately, there are several high-impact areas where investing in building your skills dramatically accelerates leadership success.
Recognize That You Are Moving into a New Professional Role and Identity
Moving from a contributor to a leader is a significant hurdle for many first-time people leaders. Rather than simply executing at a high level, you are now responsible for motivating, developing, and supporting others.
Read More
13 Essential Skills Every Manager Needs to Effectively Lead5 min read
Manager’s Text Asking Worker to Help on Day Off Sparks Outrage: ‘Threat’3 min read
Worker Applauded for Teaching New Manager a ‘Lesson’: ‘This Is Satisfying’4 min read
...
Start by recognizing that you are indeed moving not only to a new role, but to a new set of responsibilities, relationships, priorities and ways of working. Most importantly, recognize that the skills that made you a fantastic individual contributor are fundamentally different from those that will make you a successful leader.
Learning to work on a more strategic versus tactical level—and being able to pivot easily and quickly between the strategic and the tactical—is an important skill for people leaders. Building long-term, strategic goals, communicating those to your team and building buy-in with your team requires learning into your growth edge.
Developing Leadership Values, Voice and Vision
As you navigate this transition, spending time reflecting on and clarifying your leadership values, voice and vision is an invaluable exercise. The clearer you can be on what guides you as a leader, the better able you are to prioritize the day-to-day actions that support that vision. Ask yourself these questions:
- Who am I as a leader?
- How do I want to show up as a leader?
- What do I want to be known for as a leader?
- What values serve as the foundation for my leadership style?
- How can I leverage my existing strengths and skills in a people leadership role?
- What day-to-day actions will communicate my leadership vision?
Prioritize Relationship Building, Within and Beyond Your Team
New people leaders often make the mistake of prioritizing day-to-day work over building relationships. Yet relationship-building and creating alignment across teams and stakeholders is fundamental—not ancillary—to producing business results.
Prioritizing building relationships, effective communication and building collaborative, inclusive working environments is a fundamental aspect of your role as a people leader and critical to your success.
Making time for 1:1s with your direct reports, team-building activities and developing, recognizing and appreciating the people you lead drives higher levels of productivity and engagement. As a result, these activities are important both to your success as a people leader and the success of the team you lead.
Be Strategic About How You and Your Team Invest Your Time, Energy and Resources
It's common for new people leaders to feel constantly overwhelmed. However, learning to drastically reduce overwhelm is vital to your own success and your ability to effectively prioritize and guide your team toward the highest impact strategic priorities. Learning to move from time management to priority management is part of the skill set that will help you succeed.
One of the best ways to both reduce overwhelm and get clear on the highest ROI priorities for both yourself and your team is holding a regular weekly planning and prioritization meeting with yourself. Set aside 30-60 minutes at the end of each week to identify your strategic priorities for the following week and adjust your calendar to align with those priorities.
Making intentional, strategic decisions about what work is a priority for your team versus less important or even something that your team should not be focused on is one of the single most important aspects of strategic leadership. The weekly planning and prioritization meeting with yourself helps you get there.
Relatedly, learning to adopt the 85 percent rule—defaulting to 85 percent rather than 100 percent of effort—will help you and your team sustain energy and momentum over the long haul. Reserving 100 percent effort for the team's most important priorities prevents burnout and helps protect and increase engagement, productivity, and well-being.
Invest in and Prioritize Your Own Professional Development and Growth
When navigating the transition from individual contributor to people leader, your own professional development and growth can often fall by the wayside. Yet, no matter how busy you are, investing in your own development is vital to ensuring your success in your new role, as well as preparing you to continue to advance in your career. Carving out regular time to invest in your own development is fundamental to helping you develop the skills you need to succeed over the long term.
Whether you are feeling confident, excited, uncertain, anxious, overwhelmed or any of the very common and normal mix of those emotions, using these strategies can help you successfully navigate your new role.
As you do, don't forget to make time to celebrate this significant career milestone.
About the Author
Brandy L. Simula, Ph.D., ACC (she/they) is an award-winning consultant, speaker and executive coach. She has spent the last decade leveraging her doctoral training in behavioral science and social psychology to help organizations and senior leaders address critical workplace culture, leadership and organizational development challenges. An ICF-certified executive and leadership coach, they write and speak frequently on leadership and organizational development, DEIB, workplace culture, well-being, and women's and LGBTQ+ career and leadership development.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines