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Team Leadership: 6 Truths for New Managers
When you think about career success, whether it is a person you look up to or achievement in an organization, it usually is someone in a leadership...
4 min read
Michelle Bennett : May 24, 2023 9:50:00 AM
There is a never-ending supply of advice on leadership success. For example, if you search for leadership books on Amazon, you’re presented with over 60,000 results. With so much information available at the push of a button, it can be difficult to know exactly which leadership topics you need to learn to survive and even thrive as a first-time manager or supervisor.
Leadership success is built on a handful of key fundamental leadership skills. These basics become the solid foundation on which your entire leadership journey is built. Of course, as you are promoted into senior leadership roles, the skills needed will change. Still, the leadership fundamentals you acquired as a new manager will always be part of your leadership toolkit, and as such, it will serve you well to develop them early on in your leadership career.
In fact, the importance of mastering the fundamentals of leadership is highlighted in Grovo survey, which found that 44% of new leaders said they were unprepared for their first year as a people leader, and 87% wished they had more training before they started.
To mitigate the stress and lack of preparation many new people leaders feel, here are the 5 reasons you will want to build these fundamental leadership skills.
As a first-time manager, you will find yourself in many different situations that require strong communication skills. From one-on-one meetings with employees to leading team huddles and delivering presentations to large groups, what once was an important skill to develop is now critical.
A fundamental of leadership is how clearly you can communicate your ideas, articulate your vision, and concisely deliver constructive feedback. You’ll also need to be a great listener, one who can ask probing questions to understand the situation before problem-solving to craft an intentional response.
Having a team of enthusiastic and engaged people can make all the difference in your first year as a new leader. Of course, there will be complexities outside of your control, such as company policies and the nature of your work, but don’t be discouraged. It has been found that you, as your employee’s direct leader, have the greatest direct impact on how engaged an employee is. Here are 3 ways you can motivate your team to drive their engagement, productivity, and performance.
One of the biggest transitions from individual contributor to people leader is now being the one everyone goes to with the expectation of solving problems and always having the right answer, even in stressful, pressure-packed situations. In the book, The Power of Pressure, Dane Jensen, the author and partner of Niagara Institute, explains that “pressure is found in our response to a situation, not the situation itself.” As a new leader, developing the skills to positively channel the energy derived from pressure-packed situations to ensure sound judgment and clear decision-making will benefit you in your first year and throughout your career.
Being part of a team is very different from being the one managing it. Differing personalities, opinions, beliefs, working styles, and levels of commitment can make it difficult for new managers and supervisors to build positive team dynamics. The statistics back this up, with only 26% of employees agreeing that they feel their team works seamlessly together.
A leadership skill that will serve you well throughout your career is how to lead a team. Team leadership requires the ability, skills, and willingness to manage and promote the following:
As a new leader, your team, peers, and senior leaders will pull you in many directions. As a result, your time must be managed as a sacred resource. As one New York Times author said, “Prioritize the people and projects that matter, and it won’t matter how long it takes.” As a new leader, you must prioritize requests, avoid feeling pressure to take it all on, and, above all, learn how to say no. Learning how to take control of your day to maximize your productivity while reducing the likelihood of burnout is a skill many leaders wish they had in their first year as people leaders.
Becoming a people leader should be an achievement you’re proud of. You’ve worked hard to advance your career. However, stepping up to this new challenge does not need to be as hard as it is for many new leaders. Building the fundamentals of leadership will be your secret to reduced stress, burnout and hopefully, a productive team that propels your leadership success. To develop leadership fundamentals, seek out a leadership training program designed for new leaders, like the one offered by Niagara Institute.
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