One of my most memorable 'butterflies in the stomach' moments from my corporate career is when I became a 'manager' for the first time.
This was much before my promotion to the manager. I was asked to manage 2 people on a new engagement we were starting.
I vividly remember the emotions. I was excited, no doubt. But I was also nervous, in equal measures.
This was a huge responsibility with many questions echoing in mind: how would I guide them, how should I distribute responsibilities, what level of feedback to provide on their work, when to lend a helping hand and when to let them slog and figure out on their own, how to measure their performance objectively, and so on.
On top of that, I also felt vulnerable: will I ever be as good as my own manager, what if my two people did not do well and my performance gets dragged down because of them, and so on.
There are no text book answers to these questions.
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Thankfully, I had an experienced manager who could sense this and supported me through the journey. I also had a good number of role models to look up to. In tricky situations, I would often ask myself: how would role model X or Y handle it and I would get my clues.
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Today, I carry a strong conviction that:
1. 'First time managers' are the strongest transmitters of a company's culture.
2. They are also a group that yields the most return when we invest in their development.
Why?
They are closest to the ground and directly influence a large part of the company's workforce. They are motivated and in a nurturing mindset. They want to look and feel good in the eyes of their people. But they also feel vulnerable and under-equipped. They are in an emotional state where they are looking for guidance and support that will help them successfully tide through this situation.
These are the perfect conditions to tap into for driving positive change.
As a leader, if you need to make an intervention related to culture in your organisation, start by tapping into and supporting your First time managers. They would lap it up and help transmit it through their behavior.
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If you are a first time manager and feeling anxious, look around for role models in your organisation and make an inventory of what behaviours from them you would like to replicate. Every time you feel stuck, try simulating in your mind how one of those role models would navigate this situation. You will likely get a good enough clue.
#firsttimemanager #manager #leader #culture #organization #hr #L&D