Moving beyond a “sink or swim” approach to supporting first-time leaders

I still remember the announcement being read out, “James Nagle is appointed as the new General Manager for the Irish business”. This was arguably the biggest moment of my career, coming with a rush of adrenaline, a surge of pride, and lots of best wishes. Simultaneously, the inner sceptic got to work; “I got lucky”, “I´m not a Sales guy”, “I´ve never had to manage redundancies before”, and “the targets are impossible”.

Would it be a case of “I have what it takes” or “was the internal saboteur correct"?

Despite landing in Dublin in the middle of the financial crash, I was resilient, resourceful, and was promoted. Having had time to reflect, I have looked at what support model was available to me, what would have helped me in the transition and here are 5 suggestions.

Leading Your Business- owning the P&L & operations etc

1. It´s vital to keep perspective. Don´t personalize the numbers as bad results don’t equal bad leader, and vice versa, given the lag effect. Time at the start should be focused on ensuring that the good fundamentals are in place for sustainable success.

Leading Your Team- being clear on the vision and how to get there

2. Leading is about understanding what impact is required and ensure you embody that impact. New roles will require you to flex beyond your natural style, whichever that is on the leadership style spectrum from ´command & control´ to ´coaching´. Under pressure, the risk is that you revert back to default and this is bad news for you and your team.

3. Understand that stakeholders, especially your boss, have needs too. Understand how best to ´feed the beast´ so you can focus on the day job.

Leading Yourself- developing a consistent leadership style and ensuring a positive “shadow of a leader”.

4. Take time to answer the fundamental questions. Who do you want to be as a leader? When are you at your best? What brings you away from that state (eg self-limiting beliefs), and How do you handle those? This work requires sustained effort but is worth it.

5. Have a sparring partner who can see you in the context of the challenge. Peers, friends or your partner may listen but they are not objective. It’s better to go for professional support, somebody who will both challenge and support you.

And, what’s the real learning?

As a first-time leader, the issues you face are more complex, have broader impact and you are deciding on them with less information and often less time. While a minority may thrive with such ambiguity, it’s a lonely experience for the majority.

“1 out of 2” is an unacceptably high attrition rate, especially if you consider the impact on the team and organization of an under-performing, under-supported leader.

But there are solutions to this issue. If you would like to learn more about my Coaching Offer for First Time Leaders, get in touch.