Today, I find myself reflecting on my journey through my career. And one of the biggest shocks, and without a doubt the biggest challenge, was that first leap from team member, to Assistant Manager.
As part of a team, working extra hard and (at times) picking up everyone else’s slack too, I felt delighted, and justified, in my first real promotion. I worked hard, I knew my job and I had definitely earned it. I was confident this was just the first step on the ladder and that I’d soon have my boss’s job too. Boy was I wrong!
In the first couple of months everything was fine. I had that feeling of pride. I was determined to do a good job and nothing was going to bring me down. But, eventually, something did. Those happy feelings and initial joy made way to frustration, anger, and a feeling of having no control over anything. Least of all the time in my day!
I suddenly realised that everyone else’s expectations were on me. The boss that once praised me for doing a good job was questioning my decisions, and those of my staff. Staff! The staff that were once my friends and my team, were suddenly the most annoying part of my day. I didn’t want to be confrontational because we were friends. I didn’t want to be too bossy because I still wanted them to like me. I was trying to lead by example by doing it for them, but they just let me do and didn’t follow my lead at all. I was getting more frustrated by the day.
How would I deal with them? How would I fix it? I couldn’t go to my boss; she might think I wasn’t up to the job. And there really wasn’t anyone else I could ask for help. I was the Assistant Manager, I should’ve just known what to do, right?
Well, to cut a very long story short, I decided to write my team an email, and I copied the boss in so she could see how good a Manager I was and how well I dealt with my team. I told them I was disappointed and frustrated. How dare they not do their jobs properly and expect me to do it for them? Every angry and frustrated thought about them came tumbling out onto an email. I read it and thought “that’ll give them a good kick up the bum”. Even I was scared.
I expected a chat with the boss in the morning to tell me “Well Done”. I expected praise for tackling the situation, for being honest with my team and for giving them all a good scare to get them to just do a better job. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I was called into the Managers office and she tore strips off me. I was told my email was aggressive, my tone was threatening, it was demotivating and it was just absolutely not the way to approach it. I was told it is not how a Manager should behave.
I cried, bawled my eyes out.
I had no idea. How was I to know how a Manager should behave? How was I to know how to manage a team? I was great at my job but I was already a terrible Manager. I felt like my Manager regretted promoting me. My team hated me. I just wanted to run away! I felt like a failure. I felt like everything I had worked for, I had ruined.
Of course, the reality of it was, I was just another person who had been promoted into a role they had no experience to fulfil. I was expected to learn on the job and suddenly be as good a manager as I was a member of the team. It’s crazy!
In the end, I was a very successful Manager. Thankfully, the company I worked for worked with the Ruth Badger Consultancy, so I was enrolled on the Management Training Course, and it changed my whole perspective. It gave me all the skills and knowledge I needed to be a manager, and the tools to navigate the issues I might encounter along the way.
If only someone had offered this to me in the beginning…
The moral of the story; not all good members of staff automatically become good managers. If you have recently promoted someone or have a team of managers who need some knowledge and guidance, get in touch. We have Management and Leadership Development Programmes which will give your staff the power and tools to do a great job, regardless of their prior experience. Good Managers run happy, productive teams.
Happy and productive teams are good for business. Get in touch jackie.hall@ruthbadger.com
