4 Key Steps for the New Manager
Preparing for your new management role is fundamental to your success.
Brilliant managers practice great management skills, and engage a powerful management mindset.
Management skills are fundamental, but having clarity around your management mindset is one of the most powerful actions you can take to propel yourself into being a new manager.
4 Steps to Success for the New Manager
It’s important, as a new manager, that you feel confident as you move forward in your new role. By being clear on who you are and what kind of manager you want to be, you can set yourself up for success.
Below we share the 4 key steps that will support your successful transition into management and build your confidence as a new manager.
1. Get to Know Your Personal Values
Who you are, is how you lead. So spend time getting to know yourself and clarifying what your personal values are.
To help you identify your values, ask yourself these five powerful questions:
- What is important to you personally and at work?
- What motivates you and why?
- What demotivates you and why?
- How do you want to be treated by others?
- What do you want others to say about you?
If you need help identifying values, there are plenty of values lists on the internet. Grab a list and refine it. Start with identifying your top 10 values, then revisit this shortened list and edit further to just 3 – 5 values. These are your core values.
Being clear about your values will help you set boundaries in your new management role.
2. Get Clear on What Type of Manager You Want To Be
Now you know what your personal values are, it’s time to think about what kind of manager you want to be.
A. Your Management Influences
Reflect back on your past managers, the good and the bad ones. What impressions did they give you about management? What did they say and what did they do? From this, think about how these experiences have shaped you.
Draw them, use words and reflect on what these experiences can mean to you.
It’s important to remember that you choose what kind of manager you want to be. Your past managers may be your management foundations, but you get to build from there.
B. Your Management Values
Next is to consider your values and relate this to your work experiences.
- How do your values show up in your actions and your decision making?
- How do your values influence how you relate to people?
- How will your values support you in people management?
- How can you demonstrate your values at work through your management behaviours?
This will help you get clear on how you will behave and act as a new manager. Allowing to you present yourself as the best manager that you can be.
3. Clarify and Communicate the Manager You Will Be
These management experiences apply to each and every one of us. You are now managing people who have worked with previous managers and so have expectations of management based on these past experiences – positive and negative.
Here’s a tip – ask your team what their expectations are of you as a manager. By gaining clarity you will be able to openly communicate with each team member how you will be managing moving forward. Be specific about how you will work with them. Acknowledge any change in working relationships (important if you have been internally promoted) and agree on how you will best communicate, like how often you will meet and by what means and for what purpose.
Be clear of their expectations and be sure they are clear of yours. This is fundamental for building a great relationship from the start. And great relationships form the foundations of trust, an essential management quality.
4. Walk the Talk!
You’ve done the work, you have engaged with your new team and have an agreed understanding of how you will operate. So it’s time to ensure you are prepared to demonstrate it through action. You must walk the talk and lead by example.
Manage with your values in mind and be consistent.
Value your team and they will value you. By doing what you say, you will further build trust into your working relationships – the foundations for a high performing team.
We cover all this and more in our Management Development Courses.
We specialise in leadership and management development and can provide you with support through training and coaching.
If you want to build your confidence as a new manager and continue to develop in your role, come and join us on our ILM Level 3 Open Courses. We are now taking bookings.