First management position, any advice?

[Amethyst]

Indeed. It took a very long time for this to happen to me, but it finally did. The thing of it is, the jerk ended up getting blamed anyway. He was doing the scorpion-in-a-ring-of-fire bit: damaging anyone he could get at, while awaiting his doom.

Stuff will happen, that is out of your control and beyond your planning ability. You are, however, responsible for creating your own intelligence network, which can help keep you aware of where the scorpions lurk.

A boss who can't or won't admit mistakes is a boss who will avert blame by throwing you under the bus one day. "Nearly impossible" is code for "you need to make a plan to get out from under such a boss."

 

[CoolRich59]

Think "we" and not "I"... you and the people who work for you are a team and you need to think that way... if you do they will follow your lead and think that way as well.

You're their leader, not their friend... be friendly, but at the same time recogognize that you'll occasionally be making decisions that they won't like or agree with and that is part of the job

To the extent that you can within corporate constraints, treat your people the same way that you would want to be treated... advocate for them where you can and be fair.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Think and act as if you are an owner of the company.

Think long run over short run to the extent that you can.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you.... you can't possibly be successful without good employees working hard... there is nothing to be gained by being a hard taskmaster... but at the same time don't be a pushover.

Excellent advice.

Even though I was at a megacorp, the CEO did an excellent job at maintaining a ‘we’re all in this together’ environment. Unfortunately, he was deposed by the Board after a botched acquisition. The new CEO had a much different philosophy; the culture became toxic and morale plummeted.

Under the prior CEO, we felt like a team. Under the new CEO, we were inundated with “TEAM” spirit banners, badges, pep rallies, etc., but we felt like more like indentured servants.

 

[eytonxav]

The other advice I would give is to make sure you provide your subordinates with continuous feedback regarding their performance. The worst thing that can happen is an employee gets an ugly surprise at appraisal time. Absolutely operating within your budget is very important to your own survival, but the most challenging part of that comes at appraisal time when raises are due and are performance based, unless your work environment is such that everyone gets the same % cost of living increase. It was always a challenge when HR gives you a bell curve that demands a certain percent of people to be rated below your view of their performance and their own perception of how they performed. This becomes especially tough if most of the staff are all strong performers and there is no clear standouts. Just try to be as objective and honest as possible at appraisal time.

 

[CoolRich59]

I may have missed it if it was already mentioned, but I always thought “praise publicly, correct privately” was priceless advice.

I never met anyone who did not get pumped up when commended in front of their colleagues, but I saw a couple of folks devastated when they were criticized in front of others.

 

[CoolRich59]

Similarly, as a new manager - don't take on anyone else's weak staff. Even the ones they are recommending (especially those...) as the newb you will be the dumping ground for the projects and people no one wants. Be alert for this. Push back selectively, but especially on bad apples, and the ones with a hard sell.

Reminds me of my first megacorp. They encouraged managers to hire from within before looking outside. As part of the process, a hiring manager had to work out a transition plan with an employee’s current manager before finalizing a change.

How easy or difficult it was to agree on a transition became a great indicator of the quality of the candidate. If a manager said the employee could be available immediately, that was considered a red flag.

I applied for a new position in a different division of the megacorp. My current manager dodged the hiring manager’s calls and emails for almost a month, then said he couldn’t possibly release me for 3 months. The hiring manager was furious, but told me later that he considered it a good sign.

 

[SnowballCamper]

Sorry to quote this again... but it is spot on:

When I got my first management job someone told me to read "The One Minute Manager." Little tiny thin book with great advice. If I had to summarize in one sentence I would say "Make your expectations clear. People usually perform on clear expectations."

Beyond that, treat your people fairly and be honest with them. Advocate for them. There will inevitably be people you like and don't like. That should never be apparent to anyone. Your job is to get the best performance from your entire team and that often means helping the ones you don't like the most.

The vast majority of people want to do a good job. If you constantly recognize that and see your role as facilitating that, getting them the tools, training, and so forth that they need they will appreciate that. You may be the boss but ulimately you succeed from the work of your team. When you have an underperformer your first question should be whether YOU are doing something wrong. Maybe you aren't but see the previous paragraghs. Maybe they don't have the tools or training they need or maybe your instructions have not been clear. Yes, sometimes there is deadwood that has to be purged but in my experience that is pretty rare.

I would also advise against major changes until you have a chance to understand the position better. This may not be an option if major projects or changes are already in the works. People will respect your decisions better if they are made after careful study. Your persepctive may be much different from a higher perch.

Finally, if you were promoted from within you may experience some animosity from rivals for your position. Respect them. Speak honestly with them that you value their work but your relationship may change.

And to reinforce, as the boss, communication is the most important skill both in laying out expectations, but just as much to get the workers to share what they really think. Then you have to figure out how the two align...and that's where your success will be.

Avoiding budget issues would be irresponsible IMHO.

 

[WestUniversity]

Two solid ones for me.

Lead by example, and hire people smarter than you and then get out of their way…

 

[corn18]

Best bit of advice I got when I took over a large manufacturing company was to be a servant leader. Wasn't sure exactly what that meant until my friend told me to start every meeting with "How can I help?" not "This is what we are going to do." Being a type A fighter pilot, that was very difficult for me. I knew what we needed to do and sat through meetings with my leadership team where I just wanted to tell them what to do. Worked a lot better when I let them figure it out on their own.

Second best advice was weird, but I embraced it fully. Your goal as a manager is to put yourself out of a job. I spent a lot of time coaching my team and helping them grow. The unfortunate side effect of this approach is they get noticed and move onward and upward. But it was nice reading about their continued growth and success.

I empowered everyone to do their job. I also held them accountable. My favorite line for a slacker that was bitching about having to do their job was "I would be glad to take over this project for you, but then what do I need you for?" I learned that from my boss.

 

[Markola]

Ok a couple more:



Identify and weed out your weakest staff - they will take up 80% of your time, and reduce the confidence the rest of you team has in you, if you don't act. Even if you can't act, others know they are holding a heavier load and will resent you, so watch for it.



Similarly, as a new manager - don't take on anyone else's weak staff. Even the ones they are recommending (especially those...) as the newb you will be the dumping ground for the projects and people no one wants. Be alert for this. Push back selectively, but especially on bad apples, and the ones with a hard sell.



Make friends with your new peer group, your fellow managers reporting to the VP. Happy hour with them. You want to know them all personally before you sit down to duke it out at review time. Keep notes on their teams as well - when they want to pitch their dude as the star and knock your star down, you'll need ammo on both fronts. Your star looked at them sideways in a meeting once? It will come up. Build alliances. Yes it's survivor.



Schmooze: In the first couple of months, meet with all the VP's that influence your new team (ask your boss for recommendations if you're not sure). The main stakeholders. Don't prepare a lot of stuff to tell them, just have 2 or 3

questions for them. VP's love to have someone sit in their office and listen to them and nod at them for 20 mins.



Meet weekly, in person when possible, with your team. Include the contractors whenever you can. Make them close their laptops and phones. Have regular 1-2-1's with each team member. Don't blow these off, and don't make them about project updates. Don't get caught looking at your phone during one of these.

You covered all my major points, so I don’t need to post, except to agree fully with how important helping problematic people move to their next opportunity as early as possible is. Of the teams I took over, there always seemed to be one who had either stayed too long and didn’t evolve, thought they should have been chosen for my job as manager and challenged me with arrogant behavior, or who was just burned out and complaining about everything and hurting morale. Have your antenna up, figure out who it is, be very sure, line up support from your own manager and HR, figure out how best to support the person, then do the deed with kindness but firmly. Very often, everyone above and below you will thank you for helping the square peg find a square hole somewhere else, even sometimes the square peg, eventually.

 

[Yipper]

Awesome advice in this thread for sure... as a former manager at the worlds most valuable company (okay #1 or #2 depending on the day), I can tell you the advice to treat people like YOU would like to be treated is a wonderful guideline... manage/lead with integrity, even if that means you have to have the tough discussions with your superiors.

oh - and I found Manager Tools to be a fantastic resource when I was just starting in high-tech management. Lots of good info and insightful podcast for sure.

Good luck! The people development aspect is the most rewarding part of a leadership role.

 

[Jerry1]

Two things along with the advice given. First, deal with problem employees quickly. They suck the life out of the team. It’s one of the worst parts of the job but you have to do it. Use the “pull the bandaid off quickly” mentality. In a big company, this could be extremely hard, but it’s worth the effort. Second, make sure you have a “next in line” to take your place. It reinforces the notion that you should be mentoring. You don’t get to choose your successor, but you should know who could and who you’d recommend.

I was in an interview for what would have been a promotion (but a different company). The most interesting question I was asked is - if we hire you, who will replace you. I didn’t have a good answer. After that, I made sure that would never happen again. I did not get that job.

Oh, one more. As a director, if frustrated me to watch a couple managers that could not delegate. The advice to not assign anything to your team that you wouldn’t do is good advice, but you should try very hard not to do their work. You’re being paid to do higher level work. Do that and run your team. You can get more done through them than on your own. I had one guy who would recode his staff’s work to see if he got the same answer. OMG - find a way to evaluate their work without having to redo it.

Those are my tidbits. I wish you well. I always enjoyed running a team.

 

[Dtail]

I was in a senior management role.
Some thoughts for you.
Put yourself in your subordinates' shoes, while making various decisions and see if you still feel the same.
On the flip side, sometimes there are difficult decisions to be made, so you need to realize some decisions can't be helped.
Show your staff you truly care about developing their careers.
Realize that various staff will perform at different speeds and levels and work with that concept.
When there is a difficult conversation which needs to take place, try to have another person in the room if possible.

 

[MC Rider]

This reminds me why I had no interest into going into management. And why I like being a self employed 1 man band a lot better.
No meetings, no performance reviews, no pep rallys.


In the last few days before my Job End Date in 2009, and change to self employed, I had to go through a multi page performance review with my manager. The date was already carved into the headstone as it were. I said I see no reason to go through this, but he insisted. I suppose because he was not among the masses laid off from the bank. It was a positive review, but who cares at that point?!

 

[38Chevy454]

My suggestions:
1. Praise in public, criticize in private (already mentioned above).
2. Provide clear expectations and the resources to allow people to perform.
3. Try to be a filter for the crap flowing down, not just a pass through.
4. Don't micromanage.

 

[Amethyst]

Someone put it this way: "You act as their screen for solar radiation from above."

My suggestions:

3. Try to be a filter for the crap flowing down, not just a pass through.

 

[Jerry1]

Someone put it this way: "You act as their screen for solar radiation from above."

My suggestions:

3. Try to be a filter for the crap flowing down, not just a pass through.

I was a team lead and filled in for my supervisor once when he went on vacation. I remember clearly realizing how much “stuff” he shielded me from. With him gone, the manager came directly to me and I couldn’t wait until the supervisor got back from vacation.

 

[Amethyst]

I had the same experience...in my case, I knew "what" to do, but quickly realized how much better my boss was at it; he phrased responses more gracefully than I knew how to do, and had a far larger network of people to call. It was an eye-opener, and I told him so when he came back.

He, gracious as ever, informed me that his boss had said I handled myself very well.

I was a team lead and filled in for my supervisor once when he went on vacation. I remember clearly realizing how much “stuff” he shielded me from. With him gone, the manager came directly to me and I couldn’t wait until the supervisor got back from vacation.

 

[Starsky]

Ive shared this with all my team members, and it was widely shared throughout our company. The moral of the story is excellent and a reminder to always know all your metrics better than anyone else.

The Hines Story

Mr. Hines, the owner of the Hines Lumber Company recently had to fill a top executive position. Two of his managers with equal experience were considered but the choice went to the man who had fewer years with the company. Upon learning of the promotion the other man asked Mr. Hines why he wasn't the one selected. Instead of answering him Mr. Hines asked him if any lumber had come in that day. The man said he would check and a few minutes later reported that a carload had arrived that morning. Mr. Hines then wanted to know the type of lumber. After again checking, the manager told him it was number 6 pine. Mr. Hines then asked the man how many board feet were in the order. Again leaving the room to check he returned shortly with the answer of 3500 board feet. This type of questioning went on for several minutes and then Mr. Hines asked the man to sit in the next room, leaving the door ajar so he could still hear. Mr. Hines then called to the manager who had been promoted and asked him if any lumber had arrived that day. The manager said he would check and in a few minutes he returned with the following answer. A carload of number 6 pine had come in on track three at 9:30 A.M. and totaled 3500 board feet. The lumber was unloaded by 2:00 P.M. and stored in warehouse number 18. It was order number 65-03 for the Williams Company and its total value was $16,352.00. Mr. Hines thanked the man and said he could go. After the second man left Mr. Hines called in the first manager who had heard the entire conversation. The first manager said he knows now why the other man had been promoted instead of himself.

 

[Markola]

This reminds me why I had no interest into going into management. And why I like being a self employed 1 man band a lot better.
No meetings, no performance reviews, no pep rallys.


In the last few days before my Job End Date in 2009, and change to self employed, I had to go through a multi page performance review with my manager. The date was already carved into the headstone as it were. I said I see no reason to go through this, but he insisted. I suppose because he was not among the masses laid off from the bank. It was a positive review, but who cares at that point?!

I chose the adventure of management but I respect greatly the expertise of folks who like, remain stimulated in, and know themselves enough to stick to individual contribution. Management need not be the path for everyone.

 

[eytonxav]

Often times individual contributors clamor to be made a manager, but find when they get there, they wished they were an individual contributor again. Manager roles are not for everyone, and I had been one of those individual contributors for a long time before going through several management level promotions, but frankly, I never enjoyed the later near as much as earlier in my career.

 

[1242Vintage]

I was a team lead and filled in for my supervisor once when he went on vacation. I remember clearly realizing how much “stuff” he shielded me from. With him gone, the manager came directly to me and I couldn’t wait until the supervisor got back from vacation.

Had the exact same experience filling in for a vacationing chief very early in my career and it informed how I acted as a first level manager later. Loved the guys who worked for me and protected them from all the corporate crap so they could focus on getting their projects done.

 

[OldShooter]

As you study our wisdom, remember this: No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

 

[38Chevy454]

Reminds me of the joke: A company is like a tree full of monkeys, those at the top look down and see smiling faces, those at the bottom look up and see a-holes.


Take away: don't be an a-hole in your employees view.

 

[corn18]

Reminds me of the joke: A company is like a tree full of monkeys, those at the top look down and see smiling faces, those at the bottom look up and see a-holes.


Take away: don't be an a-hole in your employees view.

Whenever I did an all hands, I showed our org chart as an inverted pyramid. Me at the bottom, leadership team next up and then the rest of the org. The janitor lady was at the top. Helped convey how I felt about the role of the direct vs. indirect employees. Direct employees generate profit, indirect employees consume profit.

 

[Amethyst]

Thank goodness, it is not. Technical innovation would probably cease, and I can attest that pure technicians are not always bosses you want to work for.

Management need not be the path for everyone.