Developing as a supervisor or manager demands a different set of skills than performing technical work. Soft skills such as communication, listening, empathy, and coaching play a greater role in whether or not a person will succeed. This requires a different approach to training—one more about coaching than simply performing a task.
When we discuss hiring a frontline worker, how often do we comment that we’d rather hire someone with little or no experience? We don’t want to have to break bad habits that someone with previous experience might bring to the job.
A similar principle holds true for someone moving into a management or supervisory position, even someone we’re promoting from within the company. In the absence of structured training in how to manage people, most of us learn how to manage from our previous managers. If those experiences were positive, then we’re more likely to have a good foundation and model those behaviors. If our experiences weren’t positive, then those are the lessons and behaviors we’ll bring to our new position.
As business leaders we can do a lot to set new managers up to succeed by following a few simple guidelines.
Start early. Stay late. Most of us start thinking about hiring or promoting a manager after we’ve already stacked the deck against ourselves. Not only does it take longer for a new hire to become familiar with a new company or for someone who’s been promoted from within to adjust to their new role, but it takes longer for us to adjust to having someone now doing what we once did. We need to be prepared to stick with it.
If this person turns out to be a better manager than we were (which should be the case and usually isn’t hard to do) then we have a whole different emotional challenge to address. If this is the case, see the last point below.
Embrace the struggle. As author Ryan Holiday writes, “When we aim high, pressure and stress obligingly come along for the ride.” It wasn’t easy starting a business. What makes you think it will be any easier growing it? All growth, whether it’s personal or professional, involves risk and sacrifice. Developing our people is no different.
Delegate. Don’t abdicate. Too often when we give responsibility to a new manager, we don’t follow up on their performance. We just assume they know how to manage. Or, when they’re getting the results we want, we don’t look further to see how they’re getting those results. The how is just as important as the results. Short-term performance driven by fear, intimidation, or luck won’t last and is damaging.
Get out of your own way. This one’s hard because we usually don’t see how we’re standing in our own way. It starts when we avoid hiring the right people out of fear, ignorance, or jealousy. It continues when we don’t get managers the training they need to become even better managers. And it can end up when we overstep our bounds and meddle in the things we’re paying them to do.
When we consider the critical role managers play in driving the success of our company, now and in the future, it only makes sense that we provide them with the best driver education available. Both their safety and our future depend on it.
