advancement to a leadership position in your career often comes unexpectedly. There is no crash course in „how to be a boss“.

In my coaching sessions, I often encounter „young/new“ managers who are overwhelmed by their new role and by the fact that they are now the boss. Companies often adopt the approach of „throwing people in at the deep end and expecting them to learn to swim“ – we are all familiar with this „method“. However, this approach not only robs the managers themselves of a lot of time and energy, but also their team members. This inevitably leads to many mistakes being made – not because they are intentional, but because the managers don’t know any better.

One of the most well-known behaviours is the ostrich principle. Are you familiar with it? This involves burying your head in the sand and hoping that the „danger“ will disappear is a tactic often used to avoid conflict.

Poeple also act overly good-naturedly so as not to fall out with their own employees.

These are all issues that repeatedly arise when new managers are overwhelmed, because their priority is simply to survive.

That’s why I would like to share five „quick & dirty“ tips with new managers today to help them find success. This provides a foundation for a good start in a leadership role, but of course everyone has to implement them themselves:

1. Team meetings or daily stand-up meetings:

A weekly jour fixed appointment and/or a daily stand-up (daily update meeting) are the basic prerequisites for good teamwork. The aim is to keep each other up to date, share information and highlight any project/task delays or issues. These meetings are not intended as a platform for criticising individuals, but rather the entire team – they are a forum for „naming and shaming“. Problems and criticism should always be discussed directly the employee at the time they arise/are expressed! This brings us to the next point.

2. Weekly individual update with each employee in the team:

Firstly, the focus here is on personal 1:1 contact. It is a great opportunity to ask how the team member is doing: what is going well, what is not going so well?

It is helpful to discuss the details of the individual tasks, define specific activities and time frames, and talk through praise and criticism. Here is a quick reminder of my feedback tips:

—>It is important not only to discuss criticism during the conversation, but also to explain possible consequences.

One personal aspect that I always include here is the 3-strike principle, which ensures that you are well equipped to get off to an excellent start without wasting unnecessary energy.

The first time: point out the offence and reflect on it.

The second time: reflect again on why it happened again and consider the prospect of a possible final strike.

The third time: apply the communicated consequence: which could be a warning or even possible dismissal, depending on the offence. (Note the sandwich feedback technique).

The first two steps may sound very time-consuming, especially if you have a large team. Here, we can say with certainty that they are. To keep track of everything, it is important to find a suitable tools for documentation, responsibilities and time management. My favourite tool for this was Asana. (an online project management tool)

3. Communication

Although people often talk about open communication, it is rarely implemented properly due to a lack of knowledge. My recommendation is to communicate as much as possible, while considering what information the team needs to know and what they don’t. If you can’t address certain topics for whatever reason, such as a confidentiality clause, then you should also openly inform the team that you can’t talk about it. There are often also topics that are none of the team’s business. In this case I tend to say: „Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll make sure everything continues to run smoothly!“

4. Define the role of the deputy

If you have a good deputy, you can go on holiday with peace of mind – doesn’t that sound great? Often, not enough focus is placed on this, or it is not even desired – either by the company or by management, who believe that this makes them indispensable. Unfortunately, the reality is different: everyone is replaceable. The most important thing to communicate and clearly define this within the team. A deputy will always have slightly more information than the rest of the team, but this should not lead to envy, as that would be counterproductive.

5. Teaching independence

I often see new managers wanting to help their team by taking work off their hands to make things easier for them or relieve them of some of their workload. When this happens, you’re playing the rescuer and in my view, it is a loosing game. Team members will get used to this if you do it repeatedly, and you will end up completely overworked and burnt out. It is therefore important to offer help for self-help, i.e. to be a mentor rather than a saviour: If a team member comes to me with an apparently unsolvable problem, I would first ask: „What do you need to solve this problem and what is stopping you?“ – These are classic mentor questions, just two of many, of course. What happens next? You reflect together on how to solve the problem, rather than taking it away from the person.

It’s exciting to consider everything that needs to be taken into account in a new leadership role.

Follow these 5 tips to be successful. But remember change is often a rollercoaster ride, with its ups and downs, and that’s just part of it.

I often compare a new leadership role to the saying: „Becoming a father is not difficult, but being a father is.“

Int the context of work, that would be:

„Becoming a manager is not difficult, but being a manager is.“

You may get the title quickly on your new business card, but that doesn‘t mean you’re actually living the role. My advice would be to simply give it a try and see if anything changes or if you feel more comfortable in this new situation. However, if you realise that you still need support in your new role, don’t hesitate to contact me at marion@hr-passionista.com and we’ll arrange a free inital consultation (30 minutes) – during which we can discuss the challenges you are facing.

And don’t forget:

„It takes courage to act in order for progress to happen!“