Jim McCormick - The First-Time Manager

Some people believe that if you want something done right, you’d better do it yourself. People with this attitude rarely make good leaders or managers because they have difficulty delegating responsibility. Everyone has seen these people: They delegate only those trivial tasks that anyone could perform, and anything meaningful they keep for themselves. As a result, they work evenings and weekends and take a briefcase home as well. There is nothing wrong with working overtime. Most people occasionally must devote some extra time to the job, but those who follow this pattern as a way of life are poor managers. They have so little faith in their team members that they trust them with only trivial tasks. What they are really saying is that they don’t know how to properly train their people.

There is often a staff turnover problem in a team with this kind of manager. The employees are usually more qualified than the “omnipotent one” believes and they soon tire of handling only trivia.

You probably know of an omnipotent one in your own organization. It is a problem if you’re working for one, because you’ll have a difficult time being promoted. Caught up in your impossible situation, you’re not given anything important to do. As a result, you never get a chance to demonstrate your abilities. Omnipotent ones seldom give out recommendations for promotion. They are convinced that the reason they must do all the work is that their staff doesn’t accept responsibility. They can never admit that it is because they refuse to delegate. The trap of becoming an omnipotent one is being emphasized because you don’t want to allow yourself to fall into this mode of behavior.

One other unvarying trait of omnipotent ones is that they seldom take their vacations all at once. They take only a couple days off at a time because they are certain the company can’t function longer than that without them. Before going on vacation, they will leave specific instructions as to what work is to be saved until their return. In some situations, they’ll leave a phone number where they can be reached in an emergency. Of course, they define what the emergency might be. The omnipotent one even complains to family and friends, “I can’t even get away from the problems at work for a few days without being bothered.” What omnipotent ones don’t say is that this is exactly the way they want it because it makes them feel important. For some omnipotent managers, their retirement years are demolished because retirement means an end to their dedication to the job, their perceived indispensability, and possibly their reason for living.

Sometimes, people are chosen to head a function because they’re related to or have an “in” with the boss. Consider yourself fortunate if you do not work for this type of company. Even if you are related to the boss, it’s very difficult to assume additional responsibility under these circumstances. You doubtless have the authority, but today’s businesses aren’t dictatorships and people won’t perform well for you just because you’ve been anointed by upper management. So, if you’re the boss’s son or daughter or friend, you really need to prove yourself. You’ll get surface respect or positional respect, but let’s face it – it’s what people really think of you, not what they say to you, that matters – and that affects how they perform.

In the best organizations, you’re not chosen for a managerial position because of your technical knowledge, but because someone has seen the spark of leadership in you. That is the spark you must start developing. Leadership is difficult to define. A leader is a person others look to for direction, someone whose judgment is respected because it is usually sound. As you exercise your judgment and develop the capacity to make sound decisions, it becomes a self-perpetuating characteristic. Your faith in your own decision-making power is fortified. That feeds your self-confidence, and with more self-confidence, you become less reluctant to make difficult decisions.

Leaders are people who can see into the future and visualize the results of their decision making. Leaders can also set aside matters of personality and make decisions based on fact. This doesn’t mean you ignore the human element – you never ignore it – but you always deal with the facts themselves, not with people’s emotional perception of those facts.

People are chosen to be managers for a variety of reasons. If you’re chosen for sound reasons, acceptance by your new staff will, for the most part, be much easier to gain.

YOUR FIRST WEEKon the job as a manager will be unusual, to say the least. If you’re a student of human behavior, you’ll observe some surprising developments.

Don’t believe that everyone is happy about your promotion. Some of your coworkers will feel they should have been chosen. They may be jealous of your new position and secretly hope you fail.

Others, the office “yes people,” will immediately start playing up to you. As the chosen one, you can be their ticket to success. Their objective isn’t all bad, but their approach is unfortunate.

Some coworkers will put you to the test early. They may ask you questions to see if you know the answers. If you don’t, they’ll want to see if you’ll admit it or if you’ll try to bluff your way through it. Some may ask you questions you cannot possibly know the answers to, just for the sheer delight of embarrassing you.

Most – you hope the majority – will adopt a wait-and-see attitude. They’re not going to condemn or praise you until they see how you perform. This attitude is healthy and all you really have a right to expect.

Initially you will be measured against your predecessor in the position. If that person’s performance was miserable, yours will look great by comparison even if you’re mediocre. If you follow a highly capable performer, your adjustment will be tougher. Before you begin thinking it’s best to follow a miserable performer, consider the load of tough problems you’d be inheriting from your inept predecessor, which is why he’s no longer there. It will be difficult but potentially quite rewarding, if you’re up to the challenge. The highly capable predecessor is probably gone because she was promoted. In either case, you have a big job ahead of you.

One of your first decisions should be to refrain from immediately instituting changes in the method of operation. (In some situations, top management may have instructed you to go in and make certain immediate changes because of the seriousness of the situation. In such cases, however, it is usually announced that changes will be forthcoming.) Above all, be patient. Keep in mind that most people find change threatening. Sudden change often results in a fear response that will work against you.

When you do need to make changes, whether soon after your promotion or later, be as forthcoming as possible in explaining what will be taking place and why. This does not mean that you disclose every detail. Determining what to disclose and what to keep to yourself is part of the judgment you need to have as a manager. But the more forthcoming you can be, the more you will help your team get past the resistance to change that is a normal part of human nature.

In all settings, but particularly when implementing changes, answer questions as honestly as possible. If you are new to the position, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” if you don’t. Your people don’t expect you to know everything. They may just be probing to see if they can trust you. Trying to fabricate an answer to a question you don’t know the answer to is always a bad idea, and will very likely cost you credibility and trust.