Succeeding as a manager of managers is another career adventure steeped in ambiguity and shrouded in uncertainty. This article offers ideas to help you successfully navigate your new job as a manager of managers.
The biggest challenge faced by many individuals who desperately believe they need to do something different with their careers is moving from recognition to action. Here are some ideas to help you start moving.
Much like most other things in life, the attitude you bring to the job of new manager is a significant contributor to your success or failure.
While there may be a variety of x-factors that contribute to the most successful teams (observation isn't causation), how they communicate and ultimately collaborate is at least part of the equation for success.
Not all micromanagers are created equal. Some are a lot more vexing than others. If you’re unfortunate enough to fall under their purview for a while, instead of letting the frustration get to you, it pays to develop coping and navigation skills. Here are some ideas to help you finesse a difficult situation:
For some individuals navigating the mid-career blahs involves taking on added job responsibilities or even changing positions within their firms. Others seek out new experiences by shifting firms or possibly taking on like-kind roles in new industries.While there’s work involved in all of those cases, the degree of difficulty is relatively low for job changers compared to the challenges faced by those I reference as career reinventors. For this latter group, the process of determining what to do is the first big challenge.
Not talking about the right issues at the right time closes off access to an unknown series of potentially game-changing outcomes. It's like closing the door on your future as a firm and your career as a manager.
My favorite part of working with good managers is their seeming superpower to make their difficult jobs guiding and engaging with team members and stakeholders look easy. Here are 8 key behaviors I've observed in these managers:
In case you ever wondered if you were making a difference, know that someone is paying attention. The example you set today may very well steer the lives of the people around you for decades to come. Make your example count!
While we spend most of our time commiserating over bad managers and thinking and writing about seemingly super-human leaders, it’s most often the quiet, hard-working managers operating below the top-levels who make our organizations go and grow.
