How to make your first management job a success

It has been suggested that as many as 4 out of 10 newly promoted managers fail in their jobs in the first 18 months, so make sure that you are one of the 6/10 successful ones by following our few simple tips:

1) Brush up on your interpersonal skills – The ability to build relationships and to get along with others is vital in a management role. Having poor interpersonal skills will most certainly lead to failure. Key to this is having excellent listening skills and the ability to give and take criticism well. Try not to be defensive and don’t view conflict as something bad and should be avoided at all costs. Instead view conflict as something inevitable that needs to be handled.

2) Recognise the need to adapt – You have been very successful in your career to date. However, the skills that made you successful may not be the ones that will lead you to even greater success as a manager. For example, as an employee you may have been known for your outspokenness, having strong opinions, and being a tough negotiator. While these are still important, always saying what you really think to your team will simply alienate them. It is important to recognise that being rigid and inflexible in your approach is ultimately a self-defeating style.

3) Avoid being self centred – This is the "me only" syndrome. Self-centred managers have an overriding concern for being in the spotlight. They worry about how much credit they're getting, how much money they're making, and how fast they're moving up the ladder. They alienate others by constantly demanding recognition and they seem incapable of any selfless acts towards others. Just as a successful business must pay attention to its customers, a successful manager must use team-oriented approaches and pay attention to the needs of their staff.

4) Take action - Managers who hesitate to put themselves on the line and act will eventually jeopardise their careers. Such a manager over-analyses every situation, fails to take action and is primarily motivated by avoiding risk.

5) Be resilient - Managers succeed by making decisions, taking risks and at times failing. It is absolutely critical to be able to bounce back after a failure. Managers who become defensive or try to blame others, don’t rebound, fail to learn from their mistakes and ultimately fail themselves.

6) Understand what is expected of you – Make sure you understand from your boss what is expected from you in your first year. Be clear about how your performance will be measured and find out your bosses preferred way of getting progress reports and feedback.

7) Ask for support – Make sure you get the appropriate management training support to develop the skills to enable you to succeed. This shouldn’t be a ‘one off’ one-day or even a one week training programme. Appropriate support means ongoing, intermittent management training with feedback and mentoring that gives you a means to learn, practice, and improve abilities as you progress.

Following these few simple steps will help you to make the change from team member to manager successfully and avoid becoming one of the 4/10 statistics.