{"id":50656,"date":"2022-08-16T20:44:25","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T00:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=50656"},"modified":"2025-05-08T07:00:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T11:00:55","slug":"prepare-first-time-leaders-success","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/prepare-first-time-leaders-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing New Managers? How to Set Your First-Time Leaders Up for Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Developing New Managers Into Leaders<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cBefore my promotion, I was a good-to-excellent chemist. Now, I\u2019m only an okay chemist and an okay manager.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s how one first-time manager described the letdown of being promoted from individual contributor to being a formal team leader. She\u2019s finding that the skills and attributes that made her successful before aren\u2019t very helpful for leading others, and she isn\u2019t sure what to do differently.<\/p>\n<p>Another recently promoted manager is now responsible for direct reports who used to be his peers. Making the transition from friend to boss is proving harder than he expected, he told us.<\/p>\n<p>Both these scenarios are understandable, as they\u2019re among the most common challenges for first-time managers. Far too often, the new leader <em>and<\/em> their organization take for granted just how difficult it can be to transition from technical or functional expert to a leader of people.<\/p>\n<p>The numbers prove it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>20% of first-time managers are doing a poor job, according to their subordinates.<\/li>\n<li>26% of first-time managers felt they were not ready to lead others to begin with.<\/li>\n<li>Almost 60% said they never received any training when they transitioned into their first leadership role.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>No wonder <strong>50% of managers in organizations are rated as ineffective.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Senior leaders and talent professionals know a frontline management role can be tough. They see new managers falter \u2014 or fail. Without an attentive boss and supportive organization, first-time managers are on their own. Some figure it out, but many don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>What can organizations \u2014 and senior leaders \u2014 do to strengthen their leadership pipeline by developing new managers?<\/p>\n<h2>What Matters Most When Developing New Leaders?<\/h2>\n<h3>3 Research-Backed Ways to Help Your First-Time Managers Succeed<\/h3>\n<p>Based on our decades of research and experience developing first-level managers, we suggest 3 key things to increase their chances of success:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/3-ways-to-help-first-time-managers-succeed-center-for-creative-leadership.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/3-ways-to-help-first-time-managers-succeed-center-for-creative-leadership.jpg\" alt=\"Infographic: Developing New Managers - 3 Ways to Help First-Time Leaders Succeed\" width=\"800\" height=\"419\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>1. Clarify the challenges of shifting from individual contributor to manager and acknowledge their reality.<\/h4>\n<p>Help new managers to anticipate challenges and understand the learning curve is natural. Being the boss of people who were your peers is often a difficult change. Leading a team; engaging, motivating, and coaching others; building relationships; and finding constructive responses to conflict are among\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/first-time-managers-must-conquer-these-challenges\/\">the specific challenges that new managers face<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many first-time managers feel alone, as if they\u2019re the only ones to struggle with taking on a management role. They\u2019re probably too self-conscious to admit they\u2019re having a hard time, as if that would prove they didn\u2019t deserve the promotion.<\/p>\n<p>When new managers attend our programs for developing new leaders, they often tell us they\u2019re surprised \u2014 and relieved \u2014 to learn that the issues they\u2019re facing are actually quite common and that their peers face many of the same problems.<\/p>\n<p>Support them. Developing new leaders means helping them\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/identity-shift-achieving-results-by-managing-others\/\">make an identity shift<\/a>\u00a0away from the mindset that success is all about their individual contributions. The new reality is that their success is about working with, and through, others. Communicate with new managers and give them feedback on how they\u2019re doing. Let them know they\u2019re doing important work and give formal recognition when they do well.<\/p>\n<p>This type of support does make a difference: Our research shows that when people\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/absence-of-support-makes-the-heart-wander-why-people-want-to-leave-or-stay-with-their-organization\/\">feel supported, they\u2019re less likely to want to leave<\/a>\u00a0and have higher job satisfaction and commitment. Providing organizational scaffolding\u00a0<em>and<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/practical-ways-boss-support-development\/\">boss support is critical<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>2. Provide new managers with knowledge <em>and <\/em>practical tools, tailoring development to specific areas of need.<\/h4>\n<p>You want to\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/becoming-a-leader-not-just-a-boss\/\">develop\u00a0<em>leaders<\/em>, not just bosses<\/a>, so helping new managers understand the new mindset and behaviors they need in their role is essential. Training specifically tailored to the challenges of first-level management can help. New managers may know they need to communicate or give feedback to direct reports \u2014 but what they\u2019re doing may not be working. Trying new approaches rather than relying on what seems most obvious or easy is the only way to change and improve.<\/p>\n<p>When you provide access to leadership development to your first-time leaders (whether in-house or through external partners), be sure the content is relevant to them, and not generic, to help develop their\u00a0core leadership skills and understand the different <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/4-leadership-roles-successful-professional-must-play\/\">leadership roles<\/a> they must be able to play.<\/p>\n<p>Developing new managers also means equipping them with a clear picture of their current leadership style, strengths, and weaknesses. We believe that one of the key principles to help accelerate leader development is being deliberate about providing experiences tailored to an individual\u2019s most pressing development needs. So, help new managers develop\u00a0key leadership competencies\u00a0needed to succeed \u2014 especially\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/your-frontline-managers-need-these-6-skills\/\">the skills that frontline managers need<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and consider providing access to 360 feedback to increase self-awareness. (But ensure they\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/best-approach-to-assessment-feedback\/\">approach their assessment data in the right way<\/a>\u00a0to make a real and lasting impact.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"callOut\">\n<h3>Help Your Organization in Developing New Managers<\/h3>\n<p>Support your first-time managers as they make the shift from successful individual contributors to truly effective leaders with our proven new leader training courses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"buttonPosition\"><a class=\"buttons button1\" href=\"\/leadership-challenges\/new-manager-courses\/\" aria-label=\"Learn more about new manager courses\">Explore Programs<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>3. Create continuity in learning, helping new managers go beyond the <em>Aha!<\/em> moment in a one-off training.<\/h4>\n<p>We\u2019re always looking for ways to\u00a0<a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/learning-transfer-leadership-development\/\">improve learning transfer<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the ability to put what\u2019s learned to use. In our programs for developing new leaders, content and activities are tied to real-life needs and valuable skills. We also use processes like goal-setting and action planning, follow-up coaching, online resources, and accountability partners to grow and maintain learning over time.<\/p>\n<p>To further support and develop new managers, <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/how-to-use-coaching-and-mentoring-programs-to-develop-new-leaders\/\">consider providing access to ongoing executive coaching and mentoring programs<\/a>, and ensure new leaders have a boss who\u2019s capable of holding coaching conversations and offering feedback and development.<\/p>\n<p>Create learning networks for first-time managers to further sustain learning. Consider setting up a formal program to create opportunities for first-level managers to share stories of success or failure, talk about what they\u2019ve learned from experience, and be a support system for one another.<\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s a cadre of willing mentors to support new managers, great. But even if there isn\u2019t a formal mentoring program set up, simply giving time and space for these new leaders to get together and act as peer mentors for each other can go a long way in making them feel supported and valued by the organization.<\/p>\n<h2>Developing New Leaders Requires Intentional Effort<\/h2>\n<p>One last point: Improving the caliber of leadership on your organization\u2019s front lines requires a commitment and intentional effort. First-level managers are likely your organization\u2019s largest population of leaders, and they lead a majority of people in your organization.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t set them up for failure \u2014 make sure you\u2019re being intentional about developing new managers into true leaders.<\/p>\n<h2>Ready to Take the Next Step?<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>Help your organization in developing new leaders. Whether you\u2019re looking for <a href=\"\/leadership-challenges\/new-manager-courses\/\">new manager training<\/a> or executive leadership development, we offer a range of research-based programs and solutions to fit your unique context. <a href=\"\/leadership-programs\/#contact-me\">Contact us to discuss our leadership programs<\/a> \u2014 from turnkey, scalable virtual courses to co-creating customized learning journeys for your leaders \u2014 and let\u2019s explore what would best meet your organization\u2019s needs.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How are organizations developing new managers? Learn our 3 recommendations for supporting your newest leaders, based on our decades of research and experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":50657,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50656","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categories-engagement-motivation","categories-leadership-challenges","categories-leadership-skills-competencies","audience-hr-consultants","impact-level-first-time-frontline-managers","region-global","article-type-leading-effectively-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Developing New Managers? 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