Are your supervisors failing you? It’s one of the most common complaints I hear from my clients. One fellow even said, “I guess I just don’t know how to pick who I should promote.” Well, I’m not sure that’s true. Most often, the problem is not who we promote but our failure to support them once we’ve promoted them.
As I’ve mentioned before, the skills that get someone noticed and considered for promotion to supervisor or manager are not the skills they need to actually supervise or manage. Most often, the transition from the field to the office, or from back office to front office, is as shocking as being dropped into a pond of ice-cold water. They battle with the transition from being a peer and a friend to being “the boss.” They battle with no longer being judged on how they do the work but how well their team does the work. All the way around, it’s a strange new world with new expectations, and it’s a struggle. If we don’t support and equip them, we are setting them up for failure. We are doing them a disservice.
That is why it’s important to offer them development plans and training for them that focus on leadership skills, emotional intelligence, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving. Train them how to offer constructive feedback and performance reviews so they don’t feel like a Martian when they have to do it the first few times. Give them systems to use for delegating and for correcting bad behavior respectfully and assertively. Help them with their time management, which will need to be different in their new position than it was as an individual contributor.
Clearly communicate your expectations of them in their new role and ask them what their expectations are. Make sure both are in alignment so there are limited surprises.
Give them a budget for continuous learning and recommend books for them to read. Then, talk with them about what they’re learning.
As leaders, it’s our responsibility to grow our new supervisors and managers and give them everything they need to succeed and excel.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.
