In today’s fast paced ever changing business world it’s not unusual for individual contributors to be promoted to manager roles where they are leading teams and responsible for the work of others. However, it’s also common individual contributors don’t feel fully prepared for this transition making it intimidating and overwhelming.

Here’s the good news … this transition does not need to be intimidating or overwhelming.

You Can Learn and Master New Skills

Of course, there will be new skills to learn, things like team problem solving, delegating, mentoring, giving feedback etc. And there are some great resources to check out to help you learn and master these skills:

Remember, you were promoted for a reason and one of those reasons was likely because you demonstrated you could learn new skills, so remember, learning new skills is something you’re already well equipped to do.

Shifting Your Focus and Mindset Will Be Key

The biggest challenges many of us face when making this transition is shifting our focus and mindset.

As An Individual Contributor Your FOCUS Is:

  • Becoming a functional or technical expert in your area
  • Specific projects and/or tasks to complete
  • Getting things done well and on time to ensure your success

As A Manager Your FOCUS Needs to Be:

  • Setting and implementing an agenda for the team
  • Understanding your team and the dynamics within it
  • Promoting the collective success of the team
  • Meeting organizational goals through others
  • Developing the team

Your Initial MINDSET May Be:

  • I achieve results on my own
  • Purpose of one-on-one meetings with my team is monitor their progress
  • My job is to tell my team what to do and how to do it
  • I give team members feedback to ensure they don’t do things wrong and/or so they can fix what they did
  • I must be involved in everything the team is doing
  • No one helped me learn and grow, I had to figure it out on my own
  • I have to be able to answer all questions my team has

When You’re a Leader/Manager Your MINDSET Needs to Be:

  • I achieve results with and through others
  • Purpose of one-on-one meetings is to help team members get and stay engaged, work through challenges and barriers they’re facing and to support them
  • I ensure team members are clear about the “what” and the “why” and I empower and support them in getting to the “how”
  • I seek feedback so I can grow as a manager/leader, and I give feedback so the team can operate at a higher level
  • I am clear about the projects and initiatives I need to be involved in and I trust the team to engage and inform me as needed on everything else
  • Helping others learn and grow is important, part of my role and I’m excited to engage in it
  • It’s ok if I don’t know everything, I can ask my team the right questions to help them uncover the answer

Here are some additional great resources that can help with the transition:

While making this transition might seem intimidating and overwhelming, know it’s been successfully done by millions just like you and you can do it too.

Be sure not to discount or under-estimate what it will take to make it happen – use this blog and these resources to help you get started and reach out if there’s anything I can do to help make the transition even smoother for you:  [email protected].