In an ever-shifting landscape, new managers face a daunting reality. The path to success is riddled with challenges, but merely surviving won’t cut it. Let us uncover the keys to leadership triumph and explore the essential skills required to excel as a New Manager.
A staggering 60% of new managers underperform or fail within their first two years, according to recent research. In an age marked by innovation and constant change, lacking the right skills isn’t just detrimental—it’s career-ending. So, how do you not just survive but thrive in your new role? Let’s dive in.
Self-Awareness: The Managerial Mirror
Self-awareness is a cornerstone of effective leadership, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood concepts. It’s not merely about understanding your preferences or being aware of your emotional responses; it’s a deeper process that involves multiple layers of consciousness. At the core of self-awareness is the capacity to look inward to understand your motivations, beliefs, and values. It’s an ongoing process that requires commitment and emotional labour.
Consider the Johari Window, a model that identifies four quadrants of self: the Open Self, Hidden Self, Blind Self, and Unknown Self. As a manager, your goal should be to expand your Open Self by soliciting feedback, being transparent with your team, and investing in self-reflection.
Keeping a reflection journal isn’t merely a ‘quick tip’—it’s an essential practice. Documenting your thoughts, reactions, and decisions after key events or interactions allows you to dissect your cognitive and emotional processes. Over time, this journal becomes a mirror reflecting your managerial growth, helping you identify blind spots or biases that may be affecting your leadership.
Conscious Leadership: Beyond the Profit Margin
In 2023, conscious leadership isn’t a buzzword—it’s a paradigm shift. Leadership has transcended the boundaries of just profit and loss statements to embrace a more holistic ethos that considers the quadruple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit and Purpose. This isn’t a fad but a survival mechanism for companies aiming for long-term sustainability.
Conscious leadership requires an intricate understanding of the various components of your ecosystem. From supply chain ethics to the mental well-being of your employees, every decision creates ripples that affect the whole system. Adopting the quadruple bottom line approach is not a “Pro Tip,” but a fundamental restructuring of your managerial philosophy.
Your role as a conscious leader goes beyond being ethical; it means embedding responsible practices in your team’s DNA. Your metrics for success should not only focus on revenue but should also account for the social and environmental capital you’re either building or depleting.
Emotional Intelligence: The Unsung Hero
In a dynamic work environment filled with diverse personalities and high-stress situations, emotional intelligence is often what differentiates a good manager from a great one. While IQ may give you the analytical skills to solve complex problems, EQ equips you with the social skills to navigate the complex web of human emotions.
Emotional intelligence isn’t something you switch on when it’s convenient; it should be a constant undercurrent in all your interactions. Whether you’re conducting performance reviews or mediating team conflicts, your ability to manage and utilise emotions constructively is crucial.
Implementing emotional check-ins at team meetings is more than a simple “Action Step”; it’s a strategy to build a culture of empathy. These check-ins serve as safe spaces for team members to express how they’re truly feeling, not just about projects but about the overall work environment. This practice creates a feedback loop that not only helps you tailor your management style but also contributes to team cohesion and mental well-being.
The Art of Crucial Conversations
Effective communication is indeed more than the exchange of information; it’s an art form that involves empathy, tact, and timing. According to the State of Business Communication 2023 report, 43% of business leaders claim that poor communication decreases productivity.
Mastering the art of crucial conversations involves more than just active listening; it necessitates a holistic understanding of the situation and the parties involved. You’re not merely a conduit for messages but a mediator of emotions, expectations, and outcomes.
Active listening isn’t a ‘Skill Booster’ but a foundational skill. When you genuinely listen—taking time to understand not just what is being said, but also what is left unsaid—you create an environment of trust. The practice of ‘reflective listening,‘ where you mirror back what you’ve heard, can be particularly effective in sensitive conversations. This ensures clarity and shows the other person that they have been genuinely heard and understood.
Dynamics of a New Manager: The Glue That Holds Everything Together
In the context of a Gallup poll, managers accounted for at least 70% of variances in employee engagement scores. As a new manager, you hold the metaphorical ‘remote control’ to your team’s morale and productivity. Understanding team dynamics goes beyond identifying individual strengths and weaknesses; it involves creating synergies that make the collective output greater than the sum of individual efforts.
The concept of ‘strength mapping‘ isn’t a ‘Best Practice’; it’s a necessity. It involves a detailed analysis, often facilitated by assessments like Gallup’s StrengthsFinder or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, to identify not just what each team member is good at but also how those strengths can be orchestrated to achieve team goals.
Understanding Project Management: Beyond Gantt Charts
As work settings become increasingly virtual, with a little over 40% of employers working from home today according to Forbes, the project management landscape is evolving at a breakneck pace. In this virtual realm, the scope of project management extends beyond Gantt charts and timelines to include virtual team dynamics, asynchronous communication, and digital project management tools.
The ‘Golden Rule’ of having a contingency plan is really a Bronze Rule in today’s complex, adaptive systems. Risk management methodologies, like the Risk Register or SWOT analysis, should be integral parts of your project planning. This goes beyond merely ‘expecting the unexpected’; it’s about categorising and prioritising risks, assigning ownership, and developing mitigation strategies.
Foundations in Finance: No, It’s Not Just for Accountants
Managers are responsible for making financial decisions that can impact their organisations. Surveys have shown that a considerable number of managers lack a comprehensive understanding of corporate finance, which can hinder effective decision-making. Yet, as a manager, you’re accountable for the budgets that power your projects and initiatives. Your competency in finance isn’t an ‘extra’ but a fundamental skill that directly correlates with your ability to make impactful decisions.
Learning to calculate financial ratios like profitability and liquidity isn’t ‘Quick Math’; it’s a toolset for strategic planning. Familiarising yourself with concepts like earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), Cash Flow, and Working Capital doesn’t just ‘impress the CFO’; it gives you the acumen to align your team’s objectives with the company’s financial goals.
The Evolutionary Blueprint for Tomorrow’s Leaders
Navigating the labyrinth of managerial responsibilities today is no small feat. It requires a comprehensive skill set, ongoing learning, and the resilience to adapt in an ever-evolving corporate landscape. To echo the words of Peter Drucker, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” As you ascend the corporate ladder, your aim should be to excel at both.
If you’re committed to not just surviving but thriving in your role as a new manager, ongoing education and self-improvement are not optional; they’re essential. From developing self-awareness to mastering finance, each skill contributes to your efficacy as a manager, making you a valuable asset in any organisation’s journey towards long-term success.
Don’t Just Climb the Ladder, Own It! Enrol in the New Managers Programme at Regenesys Corporate Education in Sandton Today where professionals beat the odds, not just meet them.
Written by Thabiso Makekele
