I would rather go back to my old job. I knew what needed to be done and people appreciated me for the contribution I was making. Now, when I lead a team, I’m not so sure. I just seem to be getting in the way!
Arjun* had recently been promoted as Team Lead of a process engineering team at a mid-sized petroleum refinery. A graduate from a very prestigious engineering school, he was a quick learner and had demonstrated great initiative and a willingness to pursue and resolve difficult problems; contributions that significantly impacted the refinery’s operation and profitability in a positive way.
Arjun’s efforts and contribution were greatly appreciated and recognised, and he had been rewarded generously with merit increases and bonuses. He had been promoted twice and held the record at the refinery for the fastest progression from trainee to lead engineer. When the refinery’s Technical Services department was reorganised, his supervisor moved to a new role and Arjun was asked to head the team that he was earlier part of.
While all career transitions are challenging, the transition from individual contributor to manager is probably one of the more difficult ones.To succeed and deliver, it is fairly clear that the first time manager (FTM) needs to acquire and master several skills – for example coaching, delegation, giving feedback, managing performance, holding others accountable etc.
What is equally critical, but not entirely obvious is that this transition (like all leadership transitions) also requires a change in mindset – what one believes and what one chooses to focus on. And while there are a number of new beliefs and ways of thinking that a new manager must adopt, there is probably none more key than this one : Think We, Not Me.
Think We, Not Me is not just about teamwork. The very fact that you were considered for promotion as a manager indicates that you are seen as a team player. As a manager, it is no longer about how well you work with others – you will be judged on how well you work through others.
Many new managers assume this means how well they can get work done by others. And while there is some truth to this, in today’s workplace it is imperative for the manager to focus beyond the efficient execution of predetermined tasks and ensure that they are creating the right conditions for their people to perform at their best and make significant and unique contributions in support of the organisational goals.
As an individual contributor, you most probably stood out amongst your peers by working diligently, continually learning and improving your skills, and by proactively sharing ideas and proposals that contributed to the organisation’s success. As a manager, it is important that your focus shift to encouraging others to do so, and ensuring that every member of the team feels valued and supported.
Your past success depended significantly on your expertise – the knowledge and skills you acquired and honed over a period of time. In many organisations, this also meant that your value as a team member (and consequently the rewards and opportunities for growth) was a function of your competence relative to other team members.
Usually, this competition is healthy and does draw out the best in individuals. As a manager, when you shift your focus to the overall performance and contribution of your team, you will find the need to share more of your valuable knowledge, as well as promote more sharing amongst the team members – to ensure the overall capacity of the team does not lag the individual pockets of excellence within the team.
One of the biggest traps that new managers fall into is micro managing their team. As a manager, you realise that you are ultimately accountable for the output and contribution of your team. This is indeed true – however, most new managers (and some not so new ones) take it to mean that they need to get involved in all, or at least the key activities of their team to some depth.
Sometimes this means ensuring your team members approach their tasks in a particular way (often the way that you are most familiar with), or excessive monitoring of their work with far too many controls and checks. Here, you are falling back on your own experience and expertise, which you are keenly aware, is what led to your getting this job.
A more subtle way that your own experience trips you as a new manager, is constantly trying to improve the ideas that others bring to you. In the best-selling book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Marshall Goldsmith calls this “Adding too much value” and this features in his list of annoying habits that hold leaders back.
Many first time mangers think this is part of their job; that it is expected of them. In many cases, it is true that the new manager knows more than anyone on his/her team. You may have superior functional skills or subject matter expertise that allowed you to perform at a very high level as an individual contributor, and these skills might continue to be relevant for the work your team is responsible for.
However as a manager, it is important that you carefully weigh the benefit of improving your team members’ ideas against the risk of dampening their initiative, killing their enthusiasm, stifling their growth, and ownership for their ideas – all of which have a great bearing on their performance and contribution.
Think We, Not Me is one of the key beliefs that will serve you well, when you make your transition from individual contributor to first time manager. It is by no means the only one. In the next article, we will explore another important belief that is part of the successful manager’s mindset – Think Us, Not Them.
Are you a new manager? Does this resonate with you?
If you are an experienced manager, how easy or difficult did you find changing your mindset?
Please share your observations, opinions and questions in the comments below.
About the FTM Series : While all career transitions are challenging, the transition from individual contributor to manager is probably one of the more difficult ones. In this series, my attempt is to shed light on some of the challenges and share insights based on my own career, inspiration from the ideas of a large number of thought leaders and practitioners in the area of leadership and management, and my work as a leadership coach and mentor. If you are a first time manager, and have a specific question that you would like answered or an experience/insight that you feel will be useful to others, please write to me and I will see how best to incorporate it.
