Promotion to management means taking charge and exerting power.  It also means you are vulnerable to a number of traps.  A common one is hubris, which can be defined as “the excessive pride and self-confidence that can come with power”.  For a new manager, hubris can lead to any number of problems.  The most effective way to counter hubris in yourself is by showing humility. In this episode, we will talk about the dangers of hubris as well as how to assess and demonstrate your own level of humility.

Great managers lead by setting the appropriate context. That is,by explaining the business objectives, the competitive environment and the regulatory constraints in which the department and company operate, rather than by trying to control people simply through a set of rules and procedures. Once managers explain the context, staff are better able to understand the direction and strategy and the manager is able to minimize the rules that inhibit individual initiative in decision-making and thus, perceived ownership of their work. In this episode we’ll discuss the relationship between the business context and rules, and how the manager can improve production and maintain a happier, more engaged staff through keeping rules to a minimum.

At some point, you very likely will find yourself called upon to present to an audience larger than a small group.  If you’ve never done it – or even if you have – this can be a fear-inducing experience.  In this episode we give you some advice on how to get through it successfully.

:  The climate of a department involves how staff interact, engage, and exchange ideas to create a positive work environment.  It is important to build a healthy team climate to ensure that staff feel comfortable, confident, and supported when around one another.  Many managers don’t focus on climate but simply accept the way it is when they arrive. Thus, they possibly miss a major opportunity to build a more effective and efficient team.  We’ll focus on evaluating your current climate, identifying opportunities and possibly improving it in this episode.

In our November 13, 2023 episode we discussed the importance of empathy and defined it as “our social radar”; that is, our ability to understand what others feel, and why they do what they do.  We identified the characteristics of people who display empathy, why empathy is important to the functioning of a department, and how the manager can help the members of the team improve their empathy.  In this episode we’ll focus on you, the manager, and how the level of empathy between you and your staff, can hurt or help you.  We’ll give you a way to rate your own level of empathy, and talk about steps you can take to increase it. 

The questions that get leaders and teams into trouble are often the ones they fail to ask.  In the process of planning and decision-making, a critical role of the Manager, is to uncover key information, insights, and alternatives, by asking critical questions others may have overlooked.

Gaining new information can be difficult than it sounds for two reasons:  First, you may be blinded by your own expertise, as well as your own approach to problem-solving.  This may make it difficult to try new approaches.  Second, the flow and diversity of questions can be hard to process in real time in today’s fast paced environment.

New Managers often have a habit of talking too much.  A lot of this is due to feelings of insecurity in their new position.  They often feel they need to show they are “in charge” by dominating the conversation – especially with their staffs.  This is a mistake  In this episode we will explain why and how to use silence – that is, simply talking less.  We will also discuss the opposite problem: When staff, unsure of how to deal with a new manager use silence as a defense – afraid to speak any more than necessary.  We will cover how a good manager deals with both types of silence

Providing help to the members of your team can be tricky.  Since you’re the boss, staff members are aware that you supervise and evaluate them, and if you come in and say “I’m here to help” it may or may not be received well.  Those managers who come in too heavy-handed often receive a bad reputation.  In addition, staff members can have strong emotional or psychological reactions to unnecessary or unwanted help.  In this episode, we’ll discuss how to provide help in a manner that’s well received. 

When surveyed, most managers say they give each of their team members equal attention, respect and consideration.  Yet the research over many years finds that bosses have “in-groups” with whom they have warmer, more personal relationships and “out-groups” where they act more transactionally.  In this episode we discuss why that can be bad for the manager and how to make an effort to change that dynamic.

There are a number of honest mistakes new managers often make.  In this episode, we discuss three of the most common and, often some of the hardest to totally avoid making.