As a newly promoted manager, your goal should be focused on staying part of the team; managing and preventing conflict, as well as potential separation anxiety, as you settle into your new role. If you have been inserted into a leadership position with little training, as is often the case, you will need to work hard to develop the best leadership skills you can to succeed.

As mentioned, one of the most common issues for newly promoted managers as they move from team member to team leader is the lack of leadership training; a clear outline of what they should actually focus on in their new role.

In my work as a leadership coach, I have found that a quick promotion can lead to a strong sense of displacement and uncertainty in those whose roles have changed. Despite their understandable satisfaction at being rewarded, there is often a sense of trepidation that they will not be up to the task of leading their team.

Challenges Faced in a Leadership Role

This shift in roles, from the familiar to the unknown, can lead to many new challenges, including emotional turmoil, doubt, and insecurity. For many, such turbulence will manifest as:

• Self-doubt – Since they are no longer involved with doing the hands-on tasks with which they are familiar, they discover they miss the immediate gratification of “getting things done”.
• Emotional upheaval – In their new role as leader, they are uncertain of their place in the pecking order and fear they lack the skills to succeed.
• Disorientation – Often, the imposter syndrome kicks in (especially in anxious attachment style), and they hold on to familiar tasks, leading to micromanagement and overwork, with no downtime for strategic thinking and self-development.
• Loss of identity – If there immediate superior is not providing integration and support during their transition, they might feel lost and lonely, having no one they can share and discuss their problems with at this level.
• Over-achieving – Despite their previous experience of success and getting things done, in their new role they have a tendency to set up unrealistic expectations for themselves, trying to excel at everything and catch up on everything, which is not possible. This behavior stems from anxiety of potentially failing in the new role, which is fueled by informational and emotional overwhelm.

Tips for Newly Promoted Leaders

Too often, newly promoted managers fail as a result of negatively influenced self-regard, despite employing the entire menu of their best leadership skills. There is a host of new tasks to perform, duties that are more complex and which involve: influence building, establishing relationships between departments, coaching of their team, and strategic thinking.

This forces newly promoted leaders to let go of their old identity and create an entirely new set of skills, if they hope to build a chain of successes in their new role. Finding a mentor or/and a coach during this transition is one of the steps that can ensure not only your success in the new role, but also support your overall well being, preventing burn out.

As outlined in a previous post, Coaching Leadership Style – How a Quick Leadership Promotion Can Change Relationships, if you find yourself in this position there are a host of steps you can take to develop the best leadership skills you need to succeed.

If you would you like to learn more about how to refine your skillset as a leader, with tips for newly promoted leaders, improved communication leadership, and the enhanced use of emotional intelligence in the workplace, my Free Leadership Webinar may be exactly what you need.