Forty percent of newly promoted leaders fail within the first 18 months, says Diane Egbers, president of Leadership Excelleration, Inc., (LEI Consulting) (www.lei-consulting.com). “It’s often what leaders don’t know that can harm them,” Egbers warns.
In The Ascending Leader: Conquer the Seven Enemies of Success—A Strategic Guide for the Newly Promoted, Egbers and coauthor Karen Schenck outline seven common failures of newly promoted leaders, as well as strategies and tools to help leaders overcome obstacles to their success. Train your leaders to beware of The Seven.
The seven enemies of success are:
- Submitting to the Enemy Within. With the stress and anxiety of tackling new challenges and responsibilities, newly promoted leaders may become their own worst enemies. “There are multiple things that leaders tend to do under stress” that can impede their success, Egbers says.
For example, in trying to gain credibility, a new leader might come across as being a know-it-all, she might focus on the wrong goals in an attempt to stay within her comfort zone, or, while attempting to position himself or herself as being authoritative, he or she might appear to be aggressive. Egbers says newly promoted leaders need to “conquer” this stress—rather than submit to it.
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- Yielding to Chaos. This “occurs when a leader does not allow the time to learn comprehensively about the business and its complexities, and instead becomes consumed by the crisis of the day—day after day. Rather than assessing the needs of the business and allowing time for learning before leading, the leader becomes mired in the minutia,” Egbers and Schenck explain in the book.
Egbers says newly promoted leaders need to “manage” the chaos, be willing to make themselves “vulnerable” by asking questions, and be strategic. “Leaders need to step back and choose strategic priorities to grow the business and make it stronger.”
- Misreading Culture Cues. Citing the Harvard Business Review, the authors say, “75 percent of the reason executives fail in the first 18 months in a new role is due to poor culture assimilation.” That’s why it is so important for leaders to “master” culture cues by “really learning and adapting to the culture before they attempt to lead,” Egbers says. Even when leaders have a long tenure in a particular department or business unit, they need to understand the culture of their new department to be successful.
- Misfiring with Your Manager. Newly promoted leaders need to “calibrate” with their new manager, Egbers says. That is, they need to establish an effective working relationship—or risk working with “unclear expectations” and “marginal support.”
- Overlooking Stakeholders and Peers. Newly promoted leaders are also wise to take the time to connect with internal and external stakeholders. “They provide such critical information that leaders have to know about an organization, about the business, culture, and even the new leader’s manager,” Egbers says.
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In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll cover the last two enemies of successful leadership, and we’ll explore a dynamic new online leadership library of interactive training courses on key leadership topics available now.
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