How Can You Better Prepare First-Time Leaders to be Effective?

by Jessica Johnson , Senior Principal Consultant, The RBL Group ([email protected]) and Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Partner, The RBL Group ([email protected])

If you are a leader, think back to the first time you were placed in a formal leadership position (work, social, school, church, or elsewhere). How did you feel? What do you wish you would have known? Who helped you prepare?

If you are responsible (as a business or HR leader) to assign and nurture first-time leaders, what can you do to help them succeed?

Most leaders have a tendency to lead as they were led—to model their mentors. Sometimes such mentoring works, but often leadership requirements change. Even former mentors would not likely do today what they did then. Yet the quality of first-time leadership matters to employee morale and productivity, strategy reinvention, customer share, and investor confidence. Our research (and likely your experience) has identified two areas first-time leaders should focus on to become more effective—especially post-pandemic: [1] setting powerful goals, and [2] receiving and giving feedback.

1. Setting Powerful Goals

Goal setting is not new. Most first-time leaders move into management roles because they have a track record of setting and achieving their personal goals. Most have heard or experienced some version of what makes an effective goal. See SMART for example.

Based on our working with hundreds of first-time leaders, let us suggest four tips to help first-time leaders improve their ability to set powerful goals:

1.1??? Collaborate with and consider all parties included in the goal. First-time leaders often like to demonstrate their prowess by setting goals by themselves, which is a false hope because goals are not accomplished alone. Co-creating goals will help all those responsible and accountable find more meaning in the target. Engaging others improves the quality of the goal and likelihood it will be accomplished. We also encourage leaders to have conversations about and with the stakeholders impacted by the goals—thinking outside-in ensures goals aren’t created in a vacuum. Here are questions new leaders could ask:

• What do you (others) think our goals should be? Why?
• What seems achievable in the current climate?

1.2?? Setting both performance and development goals. First-time leaders often fall prey to the “get results NOW!” goal trap. More effective goals focus on both performance and development. Performance goals would include objective metrics like decreasing operating costs by 15 percent this quarter, building market share by 10 percent by the end of the fiscal year, improving the hiring process by reducing days to fill to 18 by the end of the calendar year. They are necessary for an organization, but by themselves, they may not motivate employees. Development goals would include metrics like apply analytical skills to interpreting a specific data set, demonstrate oral presentation skills to communicate in an efficient and persuasive manner, and help employees become and enhance intrinsic motivation. New leaders are successful when they are able to balance performance and development goals.

• How clearly do people on my team understand what the organization needs them to focus their time on?
• When goal setting with employees: What should I hold you accountable for both in terms of what you accomplish and how you’re growing?

1.3???? Encourage stretching but not too much. Sometimes what new leaders desire to achieve exceeds capacity. At other times, new leaders are afraid to push their teams, some of whom used to be peers. Aspiration should exceed resources but not to a point where the leaders’ teams feel they don’t have the capacity or resources to achieve. Overly ambitious goals may cause the leader to be seen as aggressive but have an adverse effect on risk taking if those goals are not likely to be achieved. Goals that are not ambitious enough waste resources and decrease engagement. Stretch goals push people outside of their comfort zone but are still achievable with focus and effort. These questions can help:

• What is a goal you can set that will push you but be attainable?
• If we increased that goal by x percent, how likely do you think it is that you could still achieve that goal?

1.4??? Follow up by sharing goals with others. Avoid the set-it and forget-it mentality—regular, even informal, conversations about goal progress (both performance and development) are key. Ensure that new managers don’t wait until a mid-year or end-of-year check-in with their team members. Goal setting without follow up is intention without action: vision without results. Checking in on goals should happen on a weekly or at least monthly basis and can be as simple as first-time leaders asking:

• How are you doing on your goals?
• What can I do to help you make progress?

2. Receiving and Giving Feedback

First-time leaders sometimes are not clear about building accountability or how to give and receive feedback. Too much feedback overwhelms employees and too little restricts progress. Feedback focuses forward to help followers improve and be more effective. Leadership is less about what one does and more about how one helps others do what they need to do. Here are some ways we could help first-time managers receive and give feedback:

2.1??? Start feedback by receiving before giving.?Leaders of all types, especially first-time leaders, need to ask for feedback from their supervisor as well as their direct reports. This can be challenging if they were promoted from a subject matter expert and now as a manager think they are supposed to have all the answers. They may also have been promoted over a colleague who now reports to them. Humbly asking for feedback regularly is a practice all leaders should employ.

• What could I do more or less of to be more effective as your leader?

2.2?? Thank those who give feedback. Many people feel out of their comfort zone sharing feedback, especially if they’re sharing it with an individual higher on the organization chart than they are. Those who give feedback need feedback on their thoughts.? Inevitably, first-time leaders will receive feedback on their work and ?should show gratitude for those willing to share their observations, experiences, and ideas for improvement. First-time leaders could respond this way:

• Thank you for sharing. Let me think about what might help with that. Anything else?

2.3?? Prepare prior to giving feedback. Before launching into a feedback conversation, leaders should take time to consider their intent, the location where they will deliver the feedback, and how they will manage the conversation. First-time leaders who prepare feedback with a mindset of helping a person develop start the conversation by asking questions. This greatly reduces feedback anxiety and gets the other person talking about the issue or situation first. First-time leaders could ask themselves:

• What is my intent in giving the feedback? How will this help my employee grow?

2.4?? Have a mindset to ensure that an employee leaves an interaction feeling better about himself or herself.If the intent is to help others develop to be better in the future, that long-term focus on potential will leave an employee with more hope. When employees leave an interaction with a leader, they should feel better about themselves.? First-time leaders might say:

• You have great potential; how can I support you in realizing it?

More to Come

Goals and feedback are not the only keys to first-time leader effectiveness, but our research shows that new leaders often struggle with these skills. But when they do them better, they may lead more effectively.

What else would you suggest to help first-time leaders lead?

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Dave Ulrich?is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value.