Business Management ABCs

Tips on How to Prepare For and Deal With the It-Must-Be-Good-For-You Promotion Offer

Marie just got promoted. Her company made her a team leader. She was a top performer in her customer relation’s job. Two months later, she hates the job and wants to get out.

Companies often promote people to management based on their performance in a particular job.

Then they don’t show the person how to do the completely new role of managing people.

Or, they don’t ask the promoted person if they even like their new job.

Many people who get promoted find they don’t like the new and more stressful responsibilities.

Best decision may be to go back to what they like doing.

Better yet the company provides pre and post-promotion training for the person.

That’s the “it-must be-good-for you” promotion trap.

If you’re getting wind that you might be up for a promotion, here are some things to consider before you say, “yes.”

• A useful way to find out if you like being a manager is to try it out for a little while. A temporary stint as a leader of a team is a good test. Ask your boss if you can fill in while s/he’s on vacation or medical leave.
• Check with other managers. Ask them (i) What they hate about being a boss; (ii) What they love about it; (iii) What are the top two key skills required of a boss; and (iv) What does the organization do that makes their job difficult?

Here are some things to consider:

• Managers are responsible for group results. Your evaluation is dependent on what they produce. So your task changes from “me” to “we.”
• You will also then be evaluated on your team’s contribution to the company objectives – the “us.”
• You are responsible for individual’s results. You will have to learn how to work with the differences between competence issues and motivational issues. Question to ask at promotion time, “How much training to be a new manager will I get?”
• Bosses have to deal with conflict and power struggles between team members. If you hate conflict, you will either feel the fear and do it anyway, or you will avoid it and fail.
• Leaders have to make many big and small decisions, and then live with the results. Have trouble coming to decisions and then being accountable for them?
• Check with yourself, “Do I want to stretch myself to learn more?” or, “Is this something I do not really want to do?” being a boss may not be right for you.
• If you take on the manager role be prepared for about 9-12 months of a steep learning curve, during which many of your old habits, judgments, competencies and motivations will be challenged.
• If you are promoted to lead the team on which you are now a member, be prepared for your fellow team members to make you “run the gauntlet” to test whether they should trust you to lead them, or not.

Being a leader or manager is not the be-all and end-all in life. Most people are quite content to do their jobs really well.

Do not allow yourself to get swept up in the romance of thinking that being a manager will be easy.

As Cheryl Crowe sings, “No on said it would be easy, no said it would be this hard!”

If you choose to take the assignment:

• Celebrate that your contribution has been recognized, then …
• Find a mentor, now.

Choose Challenges . . . Drop Old Habits.

Dr. Jim Sellner, PhD., DipC.
http://subject2change.ca
Assumption: We behave in our best interests when we:
* Increase our competencies;
* Get in alignment with our personal and business values; and
* Choose to be engaged.
This combination leads to individual, team and company actions that produce increased personal and business results.

Dr. Jim’s most recent e-book – Leadership for Einstein’s: Bringing Out the Genius in People While Becoming Great Yourself.

The model is based on Dr. John H. Eggers’ action-research into 350 entrepreneurial companies.
The Five Pillars of Business Success:
* Financial Intelligence;
* Values, Vision, Mission;
* Emotional Intelligence;
* Leadership & Followership; and
* Commit to Action