Egbers, president of Leadership Excelleration, Inc., (LEI Consulting) (www.lei-consulting.com), says HR needs to be proactive about assimilating promoted leaders into their new roles. “It’s often what leaders don’t know that can harm them.”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.
The Seven Enemies of Success
1. 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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2. 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.”
3. 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.
4. 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.”
5. Overlooking Stakeholders and Peers. Newly promoted leaders also are 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.
6. Alienating Your Team. “Leaders in a new role risk coming off as a micro-manager or dictator, and can alienate the people on their team before they even get started on their goals,” Egbers and Schenck explain. Instead, Egbers says, leaders need to connect with, inspire, and “engage” their teams.
7. Suboptimizing Your Vision and Business Plan. Leaders should strive to “inspire” by creating a vision and a “focused” business plan, Egbers says. Often, leaders don’t feel empowered to set a vision of their own to lead their teams.
Not every organization has the resources to offer assimilation support, but Egbers says it is helpful to do so at every level of management. “Allow a leader to take the time to learn about an organization before they are expected to fully perform. When leaders jump in and try to lead [without first learning about the organization or department], they are at significant risk for failure.”
Although it is OK to expect them to tackle the day-to-day responsibilities of the job, give them time to learn about the organization or their department before expecting them to make strategic decisions and create a vision to lead the business forward, she recommends. This process “is setting a person up to succeed versus hoping they don’t fail.”
In cases where a new leader is already struggling in his or her new role, Egbers recommends that they review the seven enemies of success and try to determine why they are not thriving. “It’s seldom too late. Leaders can often get a fresh start with transparency and honesty. It is really important to help the leader with new awareness and support to get a fresh start.”
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In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll go over 7 strategies for new leadership success, and we’ll explore a comprehensive leadership library of online interactive courses, prewritten and ready to use in your leadership training program.