Stepping into New Leadership
Advice for the transitions into new leadership roles and how you can get better prepared
This week on Learning to Lead we discussed "Stepping into New Leadership." This session was packed with great insights, and an abundance of resources you can use on your leadership journey. Here are the takeaways and resources:
Key Takeaways:
When stepping into any new leadership role create a 90-day framework that includes: listening (a lot!), getting to know your team and partners, start/stop/continue
Pace yourself and your team: take time to understand the climate before making recommendations, and where there may be minefields
Create, share and regularly update your Blueprint with your team: this is a guide to how you work, your quirks or peeves, and how you can/will support your team
Establish and build trust: this is a critical piece to success in both direct and indirect reporting teams
Supporting and trusting your team is the difference between management and leadership: learn to delegate to your team and understand your value does not come from completing all the tasks and all the work (a coach doesn't try to do everything for the team)
Define and know your "first team:" when you become a leader shift your first team to peers and people who will help you become more successful
Help your team by asking questions versus feeling the need to step in and solve the problem for them
Define your vision and be patient enough to answer all questions until clarity is reached
Actions over words
What type of leader are you? I = a leader for me; We = a leader for the team
Resources:
Coach the Person, Not the Problem: A Guide to Using Reflective Inquiry
DOES15 - Courtney Kissler & Jason Josephy - Mindsets and Metrics and Mainframes... Oh My!
Cracking the Corporate Code: The Revealing Success Stories of 32 African-American Executives
Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager