If you’re stepping up to a manager’s position for first time, congratulations! Somebody thinks you have what it takes to make things happen. But allow me to give you some valuable advice.  Forget the skills you relied on to be successful in your previous position—except the following:

- Taking initiative
- Becoming a student of what is required for success

Why? Because each level in an organization requires a different level of thinking.

Knowing and Doing are different

If you’re lucky enough to be sent to a management training class, chances are they’ll throw a lot of stuff at you. If all you have to do is memorize facts and pass a test, the training isn’t going to be very valuable.

You might be asking “why?” again. The answer is that knowing and doing are very different things.

Think of it this way: Most people hate role play. This is a mistake. If role play is part of your new manager training, embrace it. You will learn by the doing—and, especially if the experience is tied to strong emotions, you’re much more likely to remember what you learned.

But even more important, I strongly recommend becoming a student of your employees’ preferences. This will be your greatest advantage. Study the three basic areas of human interaction:
- differences in how we think
- differences in how we behave / act
- differences in what we deem as valuable

Knowing the preferences of each employee enables you to “create an environment” in which people naturally want to give their best.  Remember – just knowing it is one thing. Doing something with it is something totally different.

Learn how to train others

Finally, don’t jump in and “save the day” when there’s a problem just because you know how to fix it. Your responsibility as a manager is to TRAIN the people who should be able to solve that problem as part of their regular job.

If you’re not training people whenever the chance presents itself, you’re neglecting a major portion of your job. Don’t know how to train? That’s okay, most folks don’t. You can learn. It’s one of the skills that will make you successful, and like I said earlier, you need become a student of what is required for success.

Again – congrats! You’re at a new level in your career, and a new level in the organization. Your success is much more likely when you change your level of thinking to the roles and responsibilities of management.

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Filed in Training, Motivation, Management, Teambuilding, Train the Trainer, Coaching