How you see and are seen
A popular concept is the notion that team members have insights into the leader that the leader may be completely oblivious to.
Soliciting 360° feedback from those that surround you calls out your strengths and identifies development needs. By choosing a cross-section of bosses, peers and subordinates and asking them for their feedback more information can be ascertained than from just manager or supervisory review.
If you self-assess and combined this with the feedback of others, you and your supervisor or manager get some clear insights on what works and what fails in your style.
![review[1]](http://www.jonesassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/review1.gif)
A focus on development
Get running start as you move into a given role. Almost certainly you will have development needs that relate to that role, the duties and the responsibilities. If you don’t believe you have development needs, why would you take on that new role?
Take the time to do an inventory of your skills, knowledge and personal attributes that align with the role and then identify the gaps as they relate to what you believe you need to be most successful in that new role.
If you have a 360° feedback, take this and use this as a guide to prioritize your developmental needs. Take the time to use this information to set out periodic development activities on say a quarterly basis.
One of the seven P’s – ‘Planning’
Proper prior planning prevents pitifully poor performance.
Any role has competing demands. In order for you to be able to prioritize demands successfully you need to be able to respond to these demands with a focus on activities that matter.
Take the time daily and at least weekly to examine where you are spending your time. A key to effective multi-tasking is to make sure that you are responding to immediate needs but simultaneously laying foundations for future outcomes.
Planning and establishing a work schedule for a couple of months ahead is an example of laying foundations for future activities.
Building a supportive team
The most successful leaders are those that have supporting teams that are aligned and complementary to their own skill sets.
Take the time early on in the introduction stage to review your team, their relationships, their skills, alignment with group objectives and the social dynamics. If you find you have misaligned people, do something about it – this could be as simple as rejigging roles or identifying development needs.
While it might be tempting to just to ignore the problem, this is not a good long-term strategy – not everyone is best suited to the role that they are assigned to and some people are sometimes better off in a different role in the organisation that uses their strengths to better effect.
Athletes on the womens’ rowing U.S. National Team carry boat shell off the dock after a morning practice on Hartwell Lake in Clemson.
Mentors and Coaches
When you move into management things can get lonely.
It can feel as if you are carrying a disproportionately heavy burden without having much support yourself. Finding a peer or person who is senior to you, to act as a mentor, buddy or coach can offer you the opportunity to talk confidentially with someone who can act as a sounding board for you.
There could be someone in your organisation or a previous boss or colleague who might be able to fulfill the role, if you cannot easily identify someone then identify this as a need to your existing manager or supervisor and ask them to suggest someone.
By recognizing the challenges with a new position as a manager and taking steps to address them, you can ensure that you make a smooth and effective transition into a successful management role.
