So often, employees are promoted because they are really good at what they do as individual contributors. The employee is efficient at what they do, they have a solid understanding of their role and often exceed expectations, they are a good team player and are looking for new tasks to challenge their thinking… The list goes on. Basically, they are so solid that it seems the next logical step is to have the employee move into a management role where they will lead a team of individuals. But is it the next logical step? Just because someone is really good at what they do, does this qualify them to be a good leader? Not al- ways. In fact, this type of promotion can be to the demise of this particular employee.
Leadership involves leading people and people are complex. They need guidance, clear communication, and to be held accountable, Leadership can involve conflict management, negotiation, disciplinary action, performance management and a new leader is not always prepared for these tasks. They need support along with appropriate training and expectations need to be established. This is where coaching and mentoring can play a huge role in the new manager learning the human resource aspect of their role and increase their overall level of success.
