Starting Strong as a New Manager: 10 Reminders

For anyone getting started (or starting over) on their leadership journey, it pays to remember:

1. Your new title confers authority. You have to earn the respect of your team members.
2. When they succeed, you win.
3. Your boss voted to trust you by promoting you. Don’t let her down. Strengthen her team and help her achieve her goals. When she wins, you win.
4. Accountability is a two-way street. Your do must match your tell.
5. Everyone around you knows if you are in this for yourself or for the group.
6. Coaching takes place one encounter at a time, every day. Every single day.
7. You don’t have to act like you’re the smartest person in the room. Instead, find the smartest person in the room and ask.
8. At your next opportunity to take credit, don’t. Instead, dispense it widely. Rinse and repeat.
9. Overheard from a new manager: “How hard can this job possibly be?” You have no idea.
10. While you are agonizing over that decision, everyone is waiting.

Take this job seriously. You’re responsible for the success of your team members.

Art Petty is a coach and consultant working with executives and management teams to unlock business and human potential. He writes the Management Excellence blog.

(Image via Tom Wang/Shutterstock.com)