They Don't Teach Corporate in College (47 page)

Hadley, 39, London

Prepare for performance reviews.
Objectives for your performance review should include soliciting feedback on your progress, identifying new goals and growth opportunities, and hammering out a long-term promotion plan. Although you can't reasonably expect to
be promoted after every review, you should at least leave with an understanding of where your current responsibilities are leading.

Do your homework before asking for a raise.
Be prepared with a list of ways you have contributed to the company that have positively impacted the bottom line. Look at the situation from your organization's point of view, and then ask yourself if you've performed at such a high level that your organization should shell out more assets to keep you.

Be realistic about your career goals.
Remember that advancing to a higher level means more responsibility and less freedom. Rather than demanding that your career move at the speed of light, relax your grip and concentrate on learning everything you can at your current level so that you'll be better prepared for the next.

Learn to cope with setbacks.
What differentiates people who deal with setbacks effectively from those who don't is resiliency, or the ability to bounce back and cope with life's challenges in creative, positive, and rewarding ways.

At some point in your 20s, you will probably receive a promotion that lands you a position such that people report directly to you. You are now officially someone's boss, and you find yourself having substantial control over his or her destiny. You'll probably be ecstatic, running around your home singing, “At last! At last! I'm not the peon anymore! And I won't make the same mistakes my manager made with me. No way, I know better. I'm going to be the best boss in the world!”

There's only one problem: You don't know better. How could you? In many companies, new managers are initiated with no training whatsoever. This is why there are so many bad ones. Being an effective boss requires a skill set that few people possess naturally, and mastering it is like learning to drive: watching other people do it isn't enough. In fact, once the excitement from
your promotion dies down, you may panic as you realize you have no idea what to do with your new employee. Suddenly your existence in the professional world has become more complex. Pre-promotion, it was tough enough to successfully steer your own career and keep yourself out of trouble. Now you have to do the same things times two, because you are accountable for what your new employee does—and does not—achieve. It's a big responsibility, and one that you must assume carefully if you want to sustain your upward mobility.

This chapter will help you navigate those bewildering first months as a new manager. I'll talk about how to set the stage for a good relationship with your new employee and how you can help her establish goals. I will then go through some of the important aspects of good management—from delegating tasks and communicating effectively to resolving performance issues, motivating a team, and being a great leader. If you have access to a training course to supplement what you read here, I recommend taking advantage of it. Strong leadership skills are not easy to develop or maintain, and you'd be surprised how quickly you can slip back into old habits. When it comes to being the best manager possible, there's no such thing as too many refreshers.

When you are assigned a new employee, you should sit down with him for an informal conversation. Taking the employee to lunch is a nice touch, and it will give you the chance to get to know him. Establishing rapport is key, but there is a strategic purpose for this get-together. Remember what I said about first impressions in
Chapter 2
? Your first meeting with a new employee will demonstrate exactly what kind of boss you will be, and it will influence all interactions from that point on. Use this opportunity to let your employee know right off the bat how you prefer to work and what you expect from him. If the employee is new to the company, you are also responsible for ensuring that he understands his role in the context of the larger organization.

Similarly, you should communicate your boundaries for acceptable conduct and performance as soon as possible. For example, clue him in right away if your company is super strict about arriving to work on time. The first time he slips, subtly let him know that there will be consequences if the behavior continues. Emphasize the importance of meeting project deadlines and observing the organizational hierarchy at the start of your relationship, and no later. I know a lot of managers who desperately want their new employees to
like them, so they put up with all kinds of no-no's—from insubordination to mediocre performance—without saying a word. As you can imagine, these managers are always the ones who later complain that their employees don't respect their authority or aren't meeting performance expectations.

Human nature dictates that even hardworking employees may test your boundaries to see what they can get away with. You can save yourself future frustration by guiding your new employee gently, but firmly, in the right direction. If you're worried about being perceived as the bad guy, remember that employees prefer straightforward, timely feedback to mixed messages, passive-aggressive slighting, or a bad review that comes out of nowhere. Your employee may not always love what you have to say, but he can't fault you for delivering constructive messages in the spirit of goodwill. It wasn't so long ago that you were in his shoes, so simply remember how you wanted to be treated then, and let your instinct be your guide.

My boss is a fantastic role model. She is so positive and encouraging that I want to do well. If I put extra effort into a project, I know she'll notice and appreciate it. I'm always a little hesitant to try new things because I'm afraid I'll screw up, but my boss is great about helping me work through the issues so that I don't have to go in cold. She's confident in my abilities, which, in turn, makes me more confident in myself.

Jori, 23, Vermont

Good management is challenging because every day you must wear a number of hats. You have to be your employee's ally, establishing a foundation of trust so that she is motivated to work hard for you. You must be a director, staying focused on your department's big-picture objectives while taking into account your employee's unique contributions. You must also be a coach, supporting your employee's development through mutual problem-solving. Once you are assigned an employee, it's not enough to be proactive about your own workload and direction. You are now also responsible for mentoring her and helping her forge a rewarding career path.

In
Chapter 4
, I defined a goal as an expectation of growth and achievement. As I talked about previously, meaningful career goals are devised by
considering what you want to do, why and when it should be done, and how success will be measured. Blessing White, a New Jersey-based consulting firm (
BlessingWhite.com
), suggests that employee goal-setting is important to effective management because it allows your employee to:

Understand her responsibilities and what she is expected to achieve.

Know the criteria on which her performance will be assessed.

Participate directly in the process, which appeals to her need for collegial support, stimulation, and sharing.