15 Mar I am a Mini-me version of my manager

“I am a Mini-me version of my manager”. Thats what a delegate on our first-line management program announced when we asked, ‘where or from who did you learn to be a manager?’ This sparked a great debate about the importance of walking the talk as team leaders and the importance of the example our direct managers set.

In our LeaderShift programme one of the topics we spend quite a bit of time exploring is ‘Leadership as a Choice’ (as opposed to a position). Our delegates go through various processes and conversations to deep dive into what kind of leaders they want to be, what ‘type’ of leadership styles comes naturally for them, what the organisation and the current context needs from them, and how to authentically get there.

Most of our employees (the ones who are supposed to get the work done) are touched by and interact with front-line managers, much more than the senior layers. Unfortunately, the front-line managers are often the ‘forgotten middle’. The super stars are promoted into team leader roles because their technical expertise or performance is superior. But how does that guarantee they will also be great at managing people? It does not, and in our experience is too often overlooked, setting our super stars up for failure. The people management aspect of leading teams is HARD, very hard, and does not come naturally for most people.

Our LeaderShift program was developed as a public or in-company program to help first-time managers make the mind-shift (and all the other shifts) from team member to team leader. 

This program has helped more than 150 first time leaders to accelerate their transition. Our next public programme starts on 18 April, click here for the brochure. 

If you find this topic as fascinating as we do, please come and join us for our next OD Talk where we will do a deep-dive into this topic: Making Magic: Leadership development for first-time leaders and managers.