One of my favorite parts of my job is helping first time managers become leaders. Being a first time manager is really challenging and a lot of times organizations can overlook this. Usually the best individual contributors are the ones chosen to be managers and they hardly ever have the requisite skill set needed for their new role. This is most glaringly obvious when it comes to dealing with performance problems. With few exceptions, your best performers are woefully unprepared to deal with problem employees. Why? Because most have them have never BEEN problem employees, therefore, they have never undergone a coaching conversation or discipline encounter. Chances are also high that your high performers have at least a streak of perfectionism. Face it, that’s what makes them such good employees. Unfortunately, left untreated it does not make for great leaders. I have always said that bad bosses are perfectionists but great leaders are actively recovering perfectionists. It’s good for them to have the high standards, but they have to have the emotional intelligence to temper this perfectionism in order to authentically reward progress and have a diverse and balanced team. All of these are really tough to teach when the new manager’s supervisor is also in the trenches, which is why it can often be a great solution to partner with a leadership coach before your rookie manager becomes your HR nightmare. Find out more http://www.limitlesshrsolutions.com
