Transition From Manager To Leader
Transition From Manager To Leader
Transition From Manager To Leader
Know your Value. What do you bring to the table in a unique way that sets you apart from others? You might have
strong skills ? Are you Innovative? Resourceful and Insightful?
The impact. What your colleagues and co-workers really think of you? How are you perceived? What's your
reputation?
1. Enhance your personal Growth
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is about how we bring things to the table
People with EI are:
1. Great Listeners
2. They Reserve Judgement and they go out of their way to consider others’ point of view
3. They are approachable and open
4. They are fair and responsive
5. They have high stress tolerance
1. Enhance your personal Growth
Develop you executive presence
They can command attention in a room without saying a word.
Organizations are hungry for leaders who can command that kind of admiration and respect. Those with the influence to
attract loyal followers who will support their causes, and their goals.
To gain the executive presence you must work on to enhance your self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Use a strong voice, excellent eye contact, and articulate speech.
Spend the time necessary to gather stakeholder input, and build a strong business case. Know your audience. Understand
their needs, and demonstrate how your goals align with theirs to get stronger buy-in. Use concise and efficient
communication to make your points, but be prepared with additional details, as needed. Use a flexible, interactive
approach. Pay close attention to reactions and responses of your audience. Try to master the art of reading them, so you
can make subtle changes to increase your effectiveness. Perhaps you detect that a more logical, or emotional approach
would have a greater impact. You can shift your tone, pace, or even the message, to help ensure that your communication
results in a positive outcome. Executive presence is remarkably powerful, and as you work toward being seen as a true
leader, it could be your secret weapon.
1. Enhance your personal Growth
Become a thought leader
Example: David was a manager with a large insurance company in 2003. Besides reading industry journals, he kept up with publications for the
automobile industry and the technology world. He was fascinated by the advances being made toward the development of self-driving cars. At the
time, that concept still seemed like something from The Jetsons, an idea that wouldn't materialize until much later in the 21st century. It certainly
wasn't a current topic of interest for his company. But David began to wonder if the delivery timeline could end up being much shorter because of the
exponential pace of advances in technology. He made some preliminary calculations about the impact of self-driving cars on the insurance
industry and confidently approached top executives with some proactive recommendations. David set himself apart by recognizing a potential
threat and developing an early strategy, one that would help his company remain in the driver's seat with revenue, even when the customer started
moving to the back seat. Bottom line, organizations recognize the enormous value of people like David, and they reward them. So how can you take
steps to begin developing yourself as a thought leader? Become an expert in your industry. Study it. Know how the market started, the evolution of
customer needs, the competitive landscape. Consistently read industry publications and trade journals. Attend conferences and workshops to stay
current. Make broad knowledge acquisition part of your career strategy. Add to your reading list with general business publications, professional
journals, books, online resources. And when you find interesting content, forward it to your colleagues with a quick note about how this might impact
or benefit your organization. Share your perspective. Analyze studies and data to help determine factors that influence customer satisfaction and
preferences. Look for potential trends, risks, and opportunities. Then elevate the impact of the data by sharing your own perspective and
interpretation of the results, drawing conclusions and pointing out implications. Network with people who can broaden your horizons. Expand the way
you think about interacting with colleagues who have different areas of expertise and varying approaches. As you participate in professional and
industry organizations, remain open to learn about unconventional strategies. And be the person to connect your team members with outside experts
who can demonstrate original thinking. Establishing yourself as a thought leader won't happen overnight. It takes time. But if you put in the
effort, you'll become the person in the meeting who sees an opportunity when no one else can.
1. Enhance your personal Growth Story:
•The senior vice president of a major technology company needed to choose a leader for a company-wide initiative. The
obvious choice was the manager of her top-performing department, a woman named Julie. Now, Julie was known for
being sharp and talented but her colleagues perceived her to be hyper-productive and overly focused on the job at
hand. Reliable and driven but not necessarily influential and inspiring. Still, the senior VP believed in Julie's potential. So
she suggested an executive coach might be helpful. In our first meeting, Julie was asked to describe some of the
characteristics of people who have executive presence. She said, "Well, you know, they're naturally outgoing. "They
dress the part. "They play the game. "They're decisive, they're strong communicators, "and people pay attention when
they have something to say." Then Julie was asked, "Okay, tell us about leaders "you admire, people that you have
thought about "throughout your career. "What was their approach like? "How did they come across?" She said, "Well,
they were wicked smart but never "made me feel uncomfortable or intimidated. "They always had a roadmap but
weren't afraid "to change directions. "They were put together, in charge, self-assured, "confident but still surprisingly
relatable and real." Julie said working for leaders like that always made a difference. "I could sense their commitment,"
she said, "And I really appreciated their candor. "They were compassionate too. "Our team would've done anything for
them. "Get there early, stay late, whatever it took." That's real impact, real influence. The kind that makes a team feel
valued and compelled to work harder. She had experienced it. Now she needed to produce it. If she wanted to prove
that she was really ready for a higher-profile assignment, she needed to increase her executive presence. It was time to
dive in. I said, "Julie, I want you to focus on how you make "your team members feel. "Tell me, how would your team
describe you?" She responded, "Well, determined and very
focused." And that led me to ask very gently, "Julie, "do you think your natural serious behavior "might be
making others feel uncomfortable "like you may be too intense or even a little intimidating?" Through our
conversations, Julie began to see things from their view, that she was so focused on deliverables that she
had little concern with how the process impacted the team. Not a big motivator. I challenged Julie, "Take a
step back and strengthen "your relationships with your colleagues. "Work to put them at ease. "If you're
going to build relationship, "show a little more vulnerability. "Be more transparent. "Tune in and
demonstrate you care about them, "not just their to-do lists." Julie struggled to implement these ideas at
first. It felt like she wasn't investing her time wisely when there were so many projects due. But then she
started to see the changes because she changed the way they experienced her. As a result, the meetings
she led
were uber-productive and you could feel the energy in the room. And yes, the top executives noticed. Julie
was tapped to lead the corporate initiative. The project was a huge success and her career potential moved
to a whole new dimension.
Qui
zAdopting a more strategic scope involves Quiz
1. thinking with a wide-angle lens
2. using advanced tools to quantify results Companies hire people based on their tangible or
3. reviewing more analytical data functional skills, but they fire people based on
4. increasing your accountability their lack of
1. emotional intelligence
The primary purpose for increasing self-awareness 2. sense of humor
is to better 3. initiative
1. communicate with your colleagues 4. table manners
2. understand your emotions
3. manage your impact on others
4. valuate your career options
2. Expand your
Perspective
Managers concentrate their attention on the performance of the direct reports. Leaders
envision strategies to leverage the skills of other teams across lines of business locally and
globally.
Managers stay plugged in to the details and the day-to-day deadlines that must be met. Leaders
understand the granular level but they balance that with a long-term vision, annual goals, and future
plans.
Managers feel a strong personal commitment to a project. Leaders feel accountable to the project,
to
their team members, and to the organization overall.
2. Expand your Perspective
The key four perspectives
1. Shift some of your energy from day-to-day operations to considering the company's overall business plan.
2. Make sure you have a solid understanding of your company's position in the market overall. Know the
competition, their relative sizes, targets, market share, and value propositions. How does your company
stack up? Be the person who thinks about your organization in context, on this bigger stage.
3. Take a deeper dive into the mindsets of your customers. Put yourself in their habitats. Watch them as
they use your products, enroll in your services, and interact with your people. From their viewpoint,
what's it like to do business with your company? With that knowledge, you may be able to anticipate
changing consumer needs before you commit to the next version of your product or service.
4. Is there an overlooked way to save money through economies of scale? Could we spend more now to
significantly increase revenue by year-end?
2. Expand your
Perspective Learn to
Innovate
Innovation isn't something you can schedule. Let's meet in the conference room on Tuesday at three and be
innovative.
Innovation leaders feel comfortable thinking in the future tense. They allow the strategic and imaginative
sides of their brains to dance. And that gives them a clear vision of what could be in a year, in five years, in
10. It's creative thinking grounded in corporate objectives.
z
For leaders to be innovative, they must
1. tolerate more risk
2. focus on logistical challenges
3. begin a yoga practice
4. schedule regular brainstorming sessions
3. Commit to People and Relationship
Coach others to unleash talent
It's one thing for you to work hard to become more strategic and innovative but the real test of a
true leader, that's found in the ability to make other people more successful, to help others
strengthen their skills and talents in a way that consistently build teams and grows companies.