Feature by Training Industry: Are You Failing First-Time Managers?

The pattern is all too familiar: A talented individual contributor is promoted to be a first-time manager. They start their new role brimming with excitement, only to realize in a moment of panic that they fundamentally lack the skills needed to do the job. Though they thought they knew the managerial role inside and out — after all, they watched someone else doing it for years — they quickly come to understand:

• They don’t know where their new job ends and their team members’ jobs begin.
• The specialized skills that drove their performance as an individual contributor are inadequate to the challenge of leading and managing people.
• They can issue orders but don’t know how to use “soft influence” to direct their team.
• They don’t know how to build appropriate managerial-employee relationships.

A recent nationwide study of more than 2,000 workers, the Oji Leadership Poll, conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll, helped paint a more complete picture of how first-time managers are impacting their teams. The survey revealed...

Read the full article on Training Industry