You Got the Promotion to Management — Now What?

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Congratulations! You got your well-deserved promotion and have gone from being an individual contributor into a management position. I’ve helped guide many career coaching clients through the transition to becoming a new manager. Here are 4 key things I help my clients remember as they step into the challenges of a new leadership role:

Expect a change of pace

You may be used to accomplishing objectives at a rapid pace and expect to maintain that speed in your new position. The key variable that often gets forgotten is that the other people you are now responsible for, and the pace they generate as a collective, is intrinsically going to take more time. You will likely also find that it takes you longer to get your own work done as the people part of being a manager typically requires a larger time investment than you may have anticipated. This is all totally common, so the earlier you align your expectations with this reality, the less you’ll judge yourself for slowing down.

Create a clear path

Taking the time to collaborate with your superior(s) up front to chart your path together can help you start your new role from a strong position. This includes:

  • Establishing guidelines for communication, reporting and any other key activities.

  • Setting clear expectations for what the role does and does not include.

  • Creating benchmarks for what success looks like: from quarter to quarter to the next year and beyond.

Taking these steps at the beginning will help ensure you know where you’re headed and when you need to get there, providing the clarity you need to effectively guide your team.

What to do after you get a promotion to manager

Stay focused

Imposter syndrome is especially common when you enter a new, elevated role. Uncertainty and overwhelm can creep in and cause you to question whether you really are good enough for this new opportunity. You may even find yourself in “the pit of despair”, an intense stage of self doubt where you’re deeply worried you’ve made a big mistake. If you catch yourself thinking those thoughts, practice techniques like zeroing in on your strengths to help you stop them and then do your best to shift focus to nailing the current task at hand.

Be good to yourself

Any significant changes in our lives can bring a load of stress along with it. While you may be tempted to work all hours to get ahead and make an impression, this is just setting a standard that will be harmful for you to maintain over the long term and contribute to burnout. Instead, take care of yourself along the way to increase your endurance and set a positive example for your team at the same time.

Remember — you got this new management role because you deserved it. You believed it was possible when you applied for the position and now it’s time to believe in yourself, build up your toolkit and get to it.