I think it was Pat Riley (basketball coach) who once said that the best performers are not usually the best coaches. They often don’t understand why it’s so hard for everyone else to be a top performer when it came so easily to them, and therefore are rendered ineffective at managing others.
You’ve wisely promoted a top performer into management. Six months later, this rising star has fallen hard: He’s overwhelmed, fearful, not respected by his staff. Why?
You probably promoted him based on his technical competence—then expected him to learn management skills by osmosis.
But he didn’t grasp the real challenges of management—for example, empowering others versus striving for personal achievement. Insecure about asking for help, he turned inward. His team’s morale plummeted; productivity faltered. ((Walker, Carol. April, 2002. “Saving Your Rookie Managers from Themselves.” Harvard Business Review.))
Here are some of HBR’s essential management skills for rookie managers:
Delegating. Under pressure to produce, rookies often “just do it” themselves because they fear losing control or overburdening others. But failure to delegate blocks their staffs’ advancement, making them resentful, and then disengaged.
Getting support from above. Many rookie managers believe they’re in servitude to bosses, not in partnership. To avoid seeming vulnerable, they don’t ask for help. But if they don’t see you as a critical support source, they won’t see themselves as one for their team.
Projecting confidence. Rookies who don’t project confidence won’t energize their teams. Frantic, arrogant, or insecure demeanors may repel others in the company.
Focusing on the big picture. Many rookie managers let fire fighting eclipse strategic initiatives. Fire fighting feels productive—but it doesn’t teach teams to handle challenges themselves or think strategically.
Giving constructive feedback. Most rookies dread correcting staffers’ inadequate performance. But avoidance costs managers their credibility. ((Ibid))
For more details and specifics, check out the HBR article, free on the web.
5 responses to “How To Coach New Managers”
Walker, Carol. April, 2002. “Saving Your Rookie Managers from Themselves.” Harvard Business Review. [back] Ibid [back] Thank you for reading the Tribute Media Human Resources News Feed. Please check the original post here:systematicHR – Human Resources Strategy and Technology. The purpose of this feed it to provide information to the greatest audience possible. In addition, we can drive inbound links to your blog. If you would like to have your blog featured or removed from here or in any of our other newsfeeds, please
In my experience, the most successful transitions for new managers occurred when he/she was provided the time for a transition period. I don’t advocate ‘carving out’ time, but there needs to be an expectation that this new manager is ‘in training’.
To continue with the sports analogy, most of today’s starting players had to sit on the bench and observe for a period of time. The return on the investment (time to sit and learn) has almost always paid dividends down the road.
I would also suggested a learning program – formal or informal, but it needs to set the expectation for the new manager.
Hi,
I’ve seen and heard about this problem and definitely agree with it. I don’t know if I would go so far as “usually” in regards to best performers not working out well as managers, but agree in general. I’ve heard Microsoft, for one, has had some issues with this at times, since they often recruit from within and you’re dealing with a lot of really smart, technically savvy people who may or may not make the best bosses.
I completely agree with what you are saying! I am a doctor and have many staff under me that I need to manage. I was not taught how to do this in school…no doctors are! We become terrible managers unless we find some kind of toolkit, course, or anything to help us.
I finally found something that Zig Ziglar recommended which is a course on how to communicate with employees, and really empower them to take responsibility for their work. It has worked out to be amazing in how my staff now looks at me and how they produce much more now!!!
I would highly recommend checking out what Zig says about this. You can copy and paste this link of his video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNKSXH5VB7w and see what this program is all about.
Zig always promotes good materials…a pretty trustworthy guy.
Another sporting analogy is that you would never go into competition (or at least expect to perform) without having mastered the skills.
Even the small amount of development that new managers get is often very limited in the amount of skills practice that they get before they are expected to go out and perform.