New Managers are Feeling Lost at Sea

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By Susan Weston, CAM, CAPS, NAAEI Faculty      

Becoming a first time manager or supervisor is a huge career kudo!  Often it is a goal you have been after for a long time.  In other cases, it can be a surprise occurrence due to external changes going on around you.

In either case – there is a lot more to being a manager than a new title.  Of the 58% of new managers that receive no training as they move up the ladder, here are the areas they fear the most

            25%    fear handling employee conflict

            22%    fear knowing how to motivate the team

            15%    fear performance reviews

            15%    fear being able to find resources for their teams

            12%    fear understanding how to create career paths

Do any of these sound familiar?  Bottom line here for new managers is the largest fears have to do with non-tangible areas.  Great performance and skill got you the promotion, but it’s the things you haven’t been doing day-to-day that are make-or-break for you now.

As you race off to make a good impression in your new role – keep it simple and focus on the critical skills to be successful

·      Balance friendship with responsibility

·      Delegate skillfully

·      Communicate with flexibility

·      Represent upper management

·      Make decisions

·      Keep things in perspective

Learn about these skills and more at the FAA Education Conference Orlando. Get the tools you need at "Making the Move from Peer to Supervisor".

Susan Weston will be one of the workshop presenters at the upcoming 2011 FAA Educational Conference and Trade Show.