What Got You Promoted May Not Make You Successful

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Early in your career you figured out what you thought was important. Doing things on time, getting the right result, keeping to yourself and doing your job. There’s no doubt that you’ve been great at doing this otherwise they wouldn’t have looked at promoting you. You’re great at your job, mistakes are few and you can be counted on when the chips are down.

Because you were great you’ve been promoted and months into to your new role the things that have made you successful are not working as they should. It’s confusing, surely you were promoted because you were good at what you did and it goes without saying, if you’ve been rewarded with a promotion, then it makes sense to amplify what you’re good at, right? You’re going to share your experience, gain a deep understanding of things you don’t know about, be across the important decisions, be protective of your team and ensure that nothing slips through the cracks.

All this sounds like a great plan yet you’re having trouble keeping up with the work load. Yes, you knew it was going to be a step up but thought it would get manageable. You’re working long hours and still not across everything, people are expecting more of you and your manager is starting to suggest that you get out of the detail and spend more time managing the people and being more across the business. But you are, you’re sharing all your knowledge, explaining what to do and how to do it and still some of your team want to work in a way that you know, just won’t cut it.

So, you’re working harder than ever, feeling frustrated and can’t get things working as you would like.

Recent research has shown that what rockets you to the top of middle management is the exact same behaviours which limit and stall your career in senior management.

The top 3 (6 are listed) previous success behaviours which quickly turn into dearilers are;

1. Being “I” focused versus “we” – the transition from looking after your own operational area to supporting peers at times at the expense of your own area is a critical change, like moving from managing to leading. Your impact is now expected to be across the business not just in your own operational area.
2. Getting the people right not just the task – senior management is about building a culture, creating a high performing team, enabling others to be their best, not making sure the monthly report has no errors. Talented, autonomous people don’t enjoy working for someone who they feel doesn’t trust them or give them enough scope to do their job the way they want to.
3. Working on the business not in – time to be thinking about where your team is headed, how they interact with internal and external customers, working out how to best leverage resources across the business and taking a whole company approach are key traits of successful senior management. Traits that are often discouraged at middle manage levels.

Getting your approach right is crucial when starting a new role and we know, how you start in a new role, is how you’re likely to continue. The reputational cement can set quickly when you move into a new role and you want to make sure that others are saying positive things about your transition into your new role. You have the right to feel confident and be the best you can be as you take on the challenge of moving to senior management.

Here’s the three questions to ask prior to you starting your new role;

• What skills / behaviours are the same in both the current and new role?
• What skills / behaviours are redundant?
• What skills / behaviours are totally new and must be learnt to make the new role a great success?

What’s you’re approach to ensuring your transition into a senior management role goes off with a bang? 

Warren

Author of high-performance book:

FIT - when talent and intelligence just won't cut it.

Download free first chapter here

I challenge conventional thinking in the areas of high performance for senior managers and elite professional athletes.

You can see more by clicking 'Follow' and connecting via Twitter.

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