The Challenges of First Time Managers

What to Expect when Transitioning to a New Management Role

Jun 22, 2009

The first management role is a key developmental experience for future executives. During that first management role an executive's core management philosophy is formed.

Management cannot be learned in a classroom. It is, to a large extent, a process of learning from experience, through trial and error.

Becoming a manager requires courage, flexibility, and a desire to learn and approach things differently. First-time managers have to re-learn most of the work habits they acquired when they were responsible only for their own performance.

While, as non-managers, they had to rely on what they did personally, using their own skills and know-how, as managers, they have to assume responsibility for a whole group, and achieve results through the work of others. To use an analogy, new managers have to shift from focusing on their own actions, like a cello player would, to orchestrating the actions of a group, like a conductor would. Motivating and inspiring others to accomplish group goals is much more complicated than motivating oneself.

Reality Versus Theory

The reality of management is quite different from the theory of management. Typically, what attracts individuals to management is the promise of more authority and freedom. New managers, however, realize fairly quickly that being a manager means relying on others. Instead of being able to do specific tasks and achieve objectives by certain deadlines, they need to delegate effectively to others, train them how to do new tasks, negotiate deadlines and priorities, and get them engaged so that the tasks are achieved in a timely and efficient manner.

The manager transformation can be slow, difficult, intellectually and emotionally frustrating, and often lonely. New managers often feel like outsiders – they no longer belong to the non-management group, and they don’t yet fully belong to the management group either. They are temporarily suspended in the middle.

Mastering New Competencies

Going into their new roles, managers naturally anticipate they will be required to learn new leadership competencies and strategic thinking skills, but they often underestimate just how challenging it will be to master the various facets of their new role. Technical competence, while still important, takes second place to people management. Since most first time managers get promoted because of their strong technical expertise, it is understandable that they often struggle with the transition from a technical role to a people management role.

As organizations restructure and redefine themselves, managers are asked to assume greater and more diverse responsibilities earlier in their careers. They often work in a virtual environment, with numerous direct reports spread across several locations, and multiple direct and indirect bosses to whom they report on a daily basis.

The good news is that new managers generally find it easier to adjust to their new roles when they have strong relationships with their bosses and peers. The support and understanding of these groups help them become more comfortable – as comfortable as anyone can be – taking on tasks outside their comfort zones and seeing mistakes and failures as an essential element of learning.

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

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