Defending Your New Leadership Role
Let’s talk about your new role as a leader. When you assumed that new role, you were pretty excited about it. Your significant other, family and friends congratulated you on the promotion. So your natural assumption is that everyone else would be happy about it too, right?
Here’s a reality check for you. The fact is there will be some who won’t be happy about your promotion or your coming into the company to take a leadership role. A member of your new team may have wanted the job or thought that their best buddy should have gotten it. A supervisor in another department may think their protégé deserved it more. An engineer may have wanted it because she felt she needed to have HR experience listed on her credentials. For whatever reason, there will be those who think someone else should have landed the job.
The majority will not say much about your promotion. You will get a few “congratulations” or “welcomes,” but most will have a wait and see attitude. Most will give you time to settle in.
If you are promoted, a few will give you the “I see you have joined the bosses” or a sarcastic “good luck” routine. Those who are not happy about your promotion are not likely to tell you directly, but their actions, comments and body language will let you know.
A point needs to be made very clear here.
Whether the new kid on the block or just promoted, You do not have to defend your new role. You do not have to apologize to anyone. It’s natural for you to feel uneasy about your new status. Don’t worry about it. Obviously, someone believes you are the right person for the job.
Now, what do you do when you hear or perceive resentment by others? Nothing. That’s right, nothing. The problem is theirs, not yours. Unless they make some kind of public issue about it, let it go. It will soon go away.
If it’s a member of your team, most of the rest of the team will see it as sour grapes and ignore the person. So don’t make an issue out of the grousing until you have given it some time to go away. It’s one of those times to “take the high road” and do nothing.
Remember this. A true leader does not react to every slight or dig that comes along.
If the grumbling continues then you will have to do something. For example, if that resentment begins to affect your team’s performance then the source of the grousing needs to be confronted privately, in a professional manner.
Ask if she has a problem about your new role that she would like to talk about. Typically, she will react with surprise, not realizing you know about the comments. You will be assured that there is no problem. In most cases, your problem will then quickly go away.
Another common mistake made by new leaders is to try and please the whole team. Someone asks for time off. Someone else wants a favor. You feel that to get in their good graces you have to say “yes” to everything.
I’m being blunt here, but pleasing everyone just ain’t gonna happen. It’s not possible.
Pleasing everyone is not your job. Your job is to get the work done. You need to do it in the most courteous and professional manner you can, but you still have to get the job done. To do that, you are going to occasionally irritate people. It means saying “no” to people, probably more often that you would like.
Just be careful that your “no” is the right decision, and you are not just showing that you have the power to say it. If they ask “why?” have a reason, not just because you said so. They will be more receptive of your decisions if they understand the reasoning behind them. If not, they may quit coming to you altogether.
Another thought for you here. Got a nasty job for your team to do? Don’t apologize to them for what they have to do. A weak supervisor will try to blame others such as blaming the job on the higher-ups or the company. You are diminished in their eyes for comments of that type.
There will be times when you are going to require things that are not going to sit well with your team.
Get used to it. If you do, they will too.
More later on being the new kid on the block!
