How do you define work? If you are like many individuals, your responsibilities have expanded since you first joined the workforce. As you have progressed through your career, you most likely have gone from an individual, task-based definition of work (i.e., completing x number of tasks, producing x number of widgets) to a more team-based approach to work, meaning, transitioning from producing results as an individual contributor to producing results through others. For many of us, the transfer from task-oriented to team-oriented work occurs suddenly with a promotion to supervisor or manager.
Individuals I have coached struggle with this transition from task-oriented work to the work of a manager. It’s no wonder given that what you had been previously rewarded for as an individual contributor (i.e., completing “just in time” tasks, “putting out fires”) is no longer your primary focus. Now you must get others to complete tasks and put out fires to produce results. Couple this change in the definition of work with the fact that most managers never receive any sort of management training, and you can see why new managers feel overwhelmed.
A first step we have used in helping new managers identify what being a manager entails is completing a leadership credo. The credo helps the individual discover what their underlying values are and how their behaviors as a manager are in-line with or in conflict with these values. Since most managers have never thought about ‘why’ they are a manager, this is often a valuable exercise to help the individual discover what their definition of leadership is and what behaviors they need to display.
Tags: Beyond the Jargon, Calibra, Leadership Development, Paul Dillenburg, values
