Transitioning Into a New Leadership Role
There I was, sitting at the head of the boardroom table, with all eyes on me. I was the team lead of an international consulting project in China and both my American and Chinese colleagues looked to me to kick-off our work together. My palms began to sweat as self-doubt kicked in. Suddenly I thought, Should I be in this role? Am I qualified? Why would the Chairman of this multi-billion company listen to anything I say? As these thoughts flooded my brain, I could feel my body temperature rising.
Leading up to this project, my team and I had diligently studied Chinese cultural norms and international business practices, we caught up on Chinese current events and did as much as we could to learn about the company we were stepping into. All of this was done to prepare the team for the work ahead. However, what I neglected to do in all that preparation was plan for how I would feel in this elevated position. Here I was, suddenly in a position of influence and I felt completely inadequate! What I was experiencing was what psychologists call Imposter Syndrome.
Everyone Makes This Mistake After a Leadership Transition
Clinging too hard to past successes and failing to stretch their leadership to match what’s needed now
Transitioning Into a New Leadership Role Takes Time
Similar to my experience leading a team in China, these feelings of inadequacy often haunt newly appointed leaders. We often see this with our clients who are on a quick ascent up their organization’s ladder. Those who were once Rockstar individual contributors or mid-managers of a smaller book of business, are now managing managers and coordinating a level of complexity they’ve never seen before.
These leaps in altitude require a shift in how you act and behave. This shift is not only manageable, but there are steps you can take to help lessen the disorientation from being at this higher altitude in the organization.
After returning from China and reflecting on my own ascent experience, I identified three things that I needed to evolve to feel comfortable leading at a new level with higher responsibilities:
Leadership Transition Step 1: From a “Me” to a “We” Mindset
I was really good at being that Rockstar individual contributor. I organize and synthesize information in my sleep. However, what I realized after leading this team in China was that none of that mattered. Sitting at that boardroom table in China, it wasn’t about me. It was about us. The team, the We. As you go higher in your organization you go from looking out for yourself, to a family (your small team), to a village, to a tribe, and maybe even a nation. The ever-expanding circle of responsibility and influence comes with higher levels of complexity and potential drama. Helping a group that is growing in diversity remain tight-knit and focused on the collective good is a core transition for those on the rise. Your team’s success is tightly correlated to your willingness to let go of personal accomplishments and focusing on the We.
Transitioning to Management Roles Successfully
Step 2 of Transitioning to Management: From Execution to Communication
We can all think of that go-to person for getting things done, whether it’s at your current company, among your group of friends, or someone on a committee you’re involved with. That person was a client of mine, the executioner extraordinaire! He was a product developer in a growing tech company who exceled at getting new projects off the ground and completed. He did so well that he was promoted. But what he soon realized was his natural ability to execute mattered less in this new role. Of course, he had objectives and goals he had to meet, but these weren’t the most significant. What mattered more was communicating the vision, clarifying expectations, and getting the buy-in from his team who would then go out and execute the work.
An organization is comprised of three interdependent systems, the operating system, the coordinating system, and the strategic system. A difficult part of ascending in the organization is knowing which system you’re in. Each system requires something different of you. Instead of doing things myself, I had to make it possible for others to do the work to achieve goals. This was something that not only I struggled with in China, but my client struggled with in his new role. I couldn’t just step in and take over the work. I mean technically you could, but that doesn’t help to transform behavior and develop the people or the organization. You have to identify the collective capabilities of your team and harness that to achieve business objectives (or team objectives).
Step 3 of Taking a Leadership Role: From Doing to Deciding
As work progressed with our Chinese business partners and I was still questioning my own ability, I defaulted to what I was good at. I took on too much work, was up late each night working on data and making changes to materials. While I knew this wasn’t sustainable, I was starting to sink with the amount of work I was taking on. In hindsight, I realized the value I could uniquely add was to be the decision-maker.
Research done by Gallup identified talents that are necessary of all leaders, one of which is decision-making. This is the ability to think ahead and determine the best decision while balancing competing interests and voices. One of the major transitions that ascending leaders face is that they are no longer an input to a decision, they are the decider. Holding space for others to give input, and suspending your point of view, is a key part of leading at higher levels. Your job is not to run the numbers or refine the messaging, it is to make sure each member knows how to contribute so that you can make strategic decisions to keep the work moving forward.
Learn More About Taking a Leadership Role
So, whether you’re leading a new project or new to a leadership role, it’s important to remember that you have ascended into a new role, which means what you were good at before, isn’t a predictor if you’ll do well in the next role. It requires a new mindset, a new set of skills, and a deep understanding of how you add value.
I would love to hear other stories of Accidental Ascent with leadership and what you learned?