Different Role = Different Mindset + Different Skills

The need to support ourselves and our people during role transitions.

This week I caught myself being a hypocrite.  

I’ve spent a chunk of my career advising business leaders about the importance of recognising the different skills and mindset required when moving from one role to another; technical expert to people manager, operational manager to strategic leader. What people have done with their careers to date is great evidence of success at doing those things, but it’s their future potential and willingness to step into a new space that is really key.

And yet, for some reason I managed to totally overlook this critical and insightful advice myself when transitioning from being an employee to a business owner.

A missed opportunity to practice what I preach, for sure!

The case for understanding and supporting those transitioning roles is well documented.  This has been a topic of discussion since the late 1960’s when Laurence J. Peters first developed the concept of people “rising their level of incompetence” - The Peter Principle, (although it’s also worth noting at the time of this research it was really only relevant to certain groups; i.e. it excluded women and minority groups as they often weren’t promoted, despite their competence!). What was good for performance in one space, does not simply translate as great in the next.

So it stands to reason that without the right support (in various forms) to help us humans navigate these changes, there is untold misfortune that can befall us.  Once high performing individuals can become under performing managers of demoralised teams, or once engaged technical experts become a shell of their former selves, with their ambition overwhelmed and their mental health in tatters.  

But why does this happen?

Simply put, stepping into a new role is exactly that.  It’s a new role.  With new measures of success that require new ways of thinking about/looking at things. You’re still just as great at the stuff you already did amazingly well, you just need to add some new tools to your kit bag.  Some of those tools you can figure out for yourself, and some you will need help with. But the first step in all this is understanding that, and not getting hung up on being perfect from the start.

Easier said than done.  *Enter Katie’s hypocrisy*

Like I said, I know all this.  I’ve helped people at all levels navigate these transitions and you’d be forgiven for thinking I would apply this knowledge in my own situation (yeah, I thought so too!).  Ooops. 

What, in actual fact, happened was I finished my lovely role in full-time employment on the Friday, telling myself I was going to take a break, to reflect on how I was feeling and do the work to assess what I needed to do to embrace being Katie Allen, the now full-time consultant in charge of her destiny, and make a plan for transition. 

Monday came and I did none of that.  

I felt the fear of being a failure and let it creep in, along with it’s best-mate “ignore it and it will go away”.  This pair immediately proceeded to encourage me to work full-tilt at every idea or inspiration I had been crafting.  They whispered that if I could “just get all of this completed then everything will be ok”.  I listened. I worked.  I planned, mapped, researched, developed and wrote myself into a place of overwhelming busy-ness.  

Don’t get me wrong, some of the stuff is actually pretty good.  But did it all need doing immediately, or might it be even better with the care and attention I, and it, deserve.  Yes, probably that.

Getting back in control

Luckily, there are some of my wise preaches that I do indeed practice, and every Friday I sit down quietly and do my reflections of the week. 

Did I achieve my goals? What goals? I hadn’t set any for my new way of life.  Ah.  So no then.

What went well? I’d been really productive and my brain was full of ideas.

What went less well? There was little order to my productivity, and while some ideas had been developed or even completed, the rest were still in need of some attention. I was tired.

What will I do the same or differently next week? Take my own advice. Stop, think about what I have come from and what made me great at that.  Think about what I have to offer for my next phase in my career. Listen to what brings me joy and tap into that.  Pay attention to what I need to do, not what makes me feel busy.

Am I happy? I can’t lie.  There was something in all that furious productivity that made the “do-er” in me super happy.  And I do believe that most of it will get used, in some form.  But did it all need doing in one week.  Nope.

I’m more happy about the fact I have tools in my kit that caught myself in this mindset, and gave me an opportunity to do something differently.

So what now hypocrite?

Transitions can be hard.  Even when we’re super excited and pumped to be stepping into something new.  We need to be kind to ourselves (and each other) and allow space for the learning to continue in a new way, supporting our new adventures. And we’re never too experienced to learn more about the things we already know we’re good at.

That is why this week I’m taking a do-over and practising gratitude for taking the time to reflect and embracing the opportunity to course correct myself.

How are you and your people coping with transition?