10 Steps to Leading Successful Teams for New Managers

Being a new manager is an exciting new chapter in your career that has a great potential for personal and professional growth. Yet it could bear its challenges, frustrations and disappointments.

Transitioning ?from an individual contributor to a leader requires a mindset shift that many are not aware of when they take on a leadership role. What made you successful as an individual will not make you successful as a leader. You are now responsible for the entire team’s development and performance.

Many organizations do not provide the necessary support for their emerging leaders. At their best they provide training on the technical part of the job, the skills needed to operate from day to day and on HR compliance policies.

?58% ?of first time managers never recieved any training to help them in their new position.

98% of managers feel they can benefit from more training.

And as a result, sadly?60% of new managers fail within the first 24 months of their career.

?What it takes to be a leader is something that most managers have to figure out on their own.

To help you get started on your new career path and save you ?time I put together 10 steps to become great leader .

1.?????Build trust by getting to know your team.

Many first time managers make 2 common mistakes:

·???????Make changes right away

·???????Focus on tasks

While both are important , what is more important is to establish your credibility by building relationships with your team.

Changes are crucial to improve performance and completing tasks and projects is necessary.

But you can’t accomplish either one of the two if you don’t know ?your team and if they don’t trust you. You can’t do it alone so don’t skip that step and learn about your people by asking questions and actively listen to them. When you focus on relationships first, your team will be more likely ?to perform, because as human beings we always seek connection, even in the workplace.

People work for people, not for companies.

2.?????Develop effective communication skills.

New managers often think that their position and title will make their teams automatically follow their direction. Just because you are the boss doesn’t mean your team will listen to you.

The meaning of your communication is the response you get. Save yourself time and frustration and learn how to be clear and precise in your communication so you can minimize misinterpretations and achieve your outcomes.

3.?????Time and task management – learn to delegate.

This is one of the hardest things for new leaders. They have so much to do and not enough hours in a day. They tend to do everything themselves because they don’t invest the time to train and coach their team or they don’t trust the task will be done correctly , unless they do it themselves. Truth is you can never accomplish everything by yourself. Let go of the control, trust your team and avoid micromanaging.

If you want to go fast, go alone ; but if you want to go far, go together.

4.?????Motivate others

As a leader one of the most important jobs you have is to motivate your team to achieve the goals you have set up .

Many new leaders use the stick or carrot approach – they incentivize by rewards or let their people know what are the consequences for not performing.

One fits all approach doesn’t work, because people are different and are motivated by different things.

Find out what is important to each one of your team members in a simple conversation. Knowing what matters to them will help you motivate your team to perform at their best.

To complete this step, you will need to have completed step one – getting to know your team.

5.?????Manage your emotions.

Often times as a new leader you will experience frustration, anger, disappointment, confusion to name just a few negative emotions. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you shouldn’t have these emotions. You are a human being and they will naturally arise.

Not why you have them ,but how to handle them is of the highest importance.

Accept the emotion, don’t suppress it and change your focus from what you don’t like to ?what is it that you want instead.

6.?????Lead with confidence

Some new leaders find it difficult to be confident in a new position. They realize their lack of knowledge and experience. Confidence is not the result of external circumstances. We bring confidence to what we do.

Here are 2 ways you can build your confidence very quickly:

·???????Keep your promises – if you commit to something, do it.

The number one reason for lack of self confidence?is committing to do something and finding justifications afterwards for not doing it. Keeping your word is important not only for your confidence, but also for your credibility as a leader.

·???????Take action even when you are uncomfortable and?that includes doing things you don’t like doing. After completing something difficult ?your confidence level will skyrocket.

7.?????Learn to deal with uncertainty

I often hear my clients say “ I do alright until something unexpected comes up and messes up with all my plans”.

Being a leader means you need to be able to handle things when they don’t go as planned. Everything changes and nothing stays the same.

?I want to emphasize that knowing how to handle unpredictable and ?unplanned situations doesn’t come from experience but from the willingness to figure things out.

8.?????Conflict resolution

Disagreement and conflict are one of the most uncomfortable things for new leaders to address. For that reason they avoid it, but that only leads to further complication. What you allow continues and the sooner you deal with conflict, the better. To resolve conflict effectively prepare for the conversation, speak to facts and not opinions . Also be firm yet empathetic .

The more uncomfortable conversations you have, the better you will become .

9.?????Manage stress to prevent burnout

This one often gets overlooked. While stress is a normal part of life when unmanaged it can lead to a burnout. If you don’t pay attention to the early signs of burnout and continue to push forward ?it ?could results in adopting behaviors to cover up the unpleasant feelings. For example, drinking, binge eating, self-medicating, and lack of presence and withdrawing ?from loved ones. These destructive behaviors result not only in the inability to pursue career goals but also in poor physical and mental health and compromised relationships.

To prevent burnout prioritize your physical, mental and emotional well being. And don’t say “ I don’t have time, I am too busy”. If you don’t make the time now, it will cost a lot more than just your time in the future. Remember if you don’t make changes, the burnout feeling will not magically disappear.

10.?Take responsibility

The ability to take responsibility for ones actions or inactions is one of the most important leadership characteristic.

When you are not taking responsibility you are the product of your environment, and you feel like everything is happening out of your control.

Responsibility is about how you are responding to the circumstances in your environment. Being able to respond is where your empowerment is. In any situation there are two things you can do – change the situation or if you can’t, change the way you look at it. When you take 100% responsibility you have the power to create your world, your mental , physical and emotional state the way you see it fit.

Following these steps will help you jump start your career as a leader. But to be fair, I have to warn you - ?that alone will not be enough. Many of the skills do not come naturally and they have to be developed and honed in. Get a coach, don’t struggle alone . Being a leader is something you have never done before and you don’t want to risk your reputation and career.

A coach will get you to your destination faster than if you are to do it on your own and will save you?from ?frustration and disappointment.

Enjoy the journey of becoming a great leader. One day you will look back and realize that all the time and effort you put in were worth it because you created a fulfilling and purposeful life.