New Senior Manager? Remember these 3 things

When people get promoted into a senior management role for the first time, while it’s great for their career, it can be daunting. 

Suddenly they are not just leading a team, they are at the top table and impressions, reputation and perceptions become more important. 

The higher you go up the corporate ladder, the more people you meet and the less they know of you as a person or what you have achieved. 

There are many reasons why this can cause managers to worry. 

Some are frozen by the fear of always wanting to always give a ‘perfect’ impression, others don’t deal well with people they don’t know well or more specifically don’t know them well. 

Apart from remembering that quite a few counterparts at your level will feel the same as you about this, here are three things you can do: 

• Think about who does it well – we've all worked with some great people. Think about those senior managers that left a good impression on you. Why was that? Was it the way the spoke to you, was it that they listened? Did they follow up? What's stopping you doing that? 

• It’s a marathon not a sprint– try not to see every single interaction as a ‘must win’ and a verdict on your abilities. We won’t blow people away every time we speak. Some conversations or input to a meeting may not be your best, that’s fine. Give yourself a break. Try to assess your input over a longer period of time, not one offs. 

• Focus on what you can control – You can’t control whether people ‘like’ you or what you do – so don’t judge the success of any interaction by that. If you are happy with how you approached it, what you said and how you did it, that’s good enough. 

Sound familiar? We can help you thrive in your current role or be ready to make the next step up in your career. Take the first step and get in touch for a free, no obligation chat.