5 Tips for Your First Time in a Leadership Role

Becoming a manager is a big transition. It takes a different frame of mind to address real-world concerns, as well as vision and insight to lead your team toward greater business goals. Without knowing what to expect of your new role, it can be very difficult to move from an employee to a leader. But with these five tips, you can be prepared and take charge of your career.

 

  1. Be a Problem Solver

Problem solving is one of the most critical functions of a team. When working in collaboration with co-workers and leadership, great things can happen. Innovation and brainstorming are the product of a group sitting together, and working through a problem. Meetings are an opportunity to share goals, ideas, barriers, and policies. Processes can be dissected and solutions ideated in real time without repeat effort or miscommunication.

 

  1. Understand the Big Picture

Policies and procedures are important to the long-term success of any organization. Providing teams with the opportunities to learn about those high-level missions and the rules put in place to achieve those goals is critical. Without goals and planning, there is no growth or improvement. By working together, organizations are able to set expectations and clearly communicate ideas around those policies. Are they working? Are they being followed? Why should anyone care? These are all questions you can answer more effectively in person than any other way.

 

  1. Ask for and Listen to Feedback

Managers and organizational leadership should use each and every staff meeting they attend as a chance to ask for and receive feedback from their employees. Rarely do team members have access to high-level managers, and the same holds true for corporate leadership. Feedback is a gift and always provides valuable learning opportunities for those willing to listen and act on it. Make time for these conversations and see how fast your company grows because of that invested time and effort.

 

  1. Exemplify Your Mission and Values

To truly create a positive work environment, managers and leadership need to fully understand and embrace the corporate mission and values. These should be stated clearly in your business’ founding documents and outlined within the employee handbook. But most of all, employers need to be well versed in discussing the core mission and values of their company. It’s important not to show any hesitancy when asked about it. Hiring managers should be able to confidently describe and talk on the subject of these founding principles when talking with prospective hires. Candidates want to know what the overall culture of a company is and whether it will be a good fit for their work style and goals. Being able to communicate the mission of a company helps applicants understand what kind of company they are interviewing with.

 

  1. Be the Most Positive Voice in the Room

Setting a good example for existing employees and applicants is critical to building a positive corporate culture. By not allow yourself to become just an “employee” and complaining about issues in public, you help create and maintain a strong and united cultural image. While, of course, even managers experience frustrations with their companies from time to time, employees look to leadership for inspiration and confidence. It really is up to you to stay positive and create the type of corporate culture that employees love.

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