Linda A. Hill - Hbrs 10 Must Reads for New Managers (with Bonus Article how Managers Become Leaders by Michael D. Watkins) (Hbrs 10 Must Reads)

HBRs 10 Must Reads series is the definitive collection of ideas and best practices for aspiring and experienced leaders alike. These books offer essential reading selected from the pages of Harvard Business Review on topics critical to the success of every manager.

Titles include:

HBRs 10 Must Reads 2015

HBRs 10 Must Reads 2016

HBRs 10 Must Reads 2017

HBRs 10 Must Reads for New Managers

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Change Management

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Collaboration

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Communication

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Innovation

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Leadership

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Making Smart Decisions

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Managing Across Cultures

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Managing People

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Strategic Marketing

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Strategy

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Teams

HBRs 10 Must Reads: The Essentials

For
New
Managers

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW PRESS

Boston, Massachusetts

Copyright 2017 Harvard Business Publishing Corporation

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to , or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.

First eBook Edition: February 2017

ISBN: 978-1-63369-302-9
eISBN: 978-1-63369-303-6

Contents

by Linda A. Hill

by Michael D. Watkins

by Carol A. Walker

by Erin Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan

by Robert B. Cialdini

by Daniel Goleman

by Herminia Ibarra

by John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter

by Herminia Ibarra and Mark Lee Hunter

by William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass

BONUS ARTICLE

by Michael D. Watkins

Becoming the Boss

by Linda A. Hill

EVEN FOR THE MOST GIFTED individuals, the process of becoming a leader is an arduous, albeit rewarding, journey of continuous learning and self-development. The initial test along the path is so fundamental that we often overlook it: becoming a boss for the first time. Thats a shame, because the trials involved in this rite of passage have serious consequences for both the individual and the organization.

Executives are shaped irrevocably by their first management positions. Decades later, they recall those first months as transformational experiences that forged their leadership philosophies and styles in ways that may continue to haunt and hobble them throughout their careers. Organizations suffer considerable human and financial costs when a person who has been promoted because of strong individual performance and qualifications fails to adjust successfully to management responsibilities.

The failures arent surprising, given the difficulty of the transition. Ask any new manager about the early days of being a bossindeed, ask any senior executive to recall how he or she felt as a new manager. If you get an honest answer, youll hear a tale of disorientation and, for some, overwhelming confusion. The new role didnt feel anything like it was supposed to. It felt too big for any one person to handle. And whatever its scope, it sure didnt seem to have anything to do with leadership.

In the words of one new branch manager at a securities firm: Do you know how hard it is to be the boss when you are so out of control? Its hard to verbalize. Its the feeling you get when you have a child. On day X minus 1, you still dont have a child. On day X, all of a sudden youre a mother or a father and youre supposed to know everything there is to know about taking care of a kid.

Given the significance and difficulty of this first leadership test, its surprising how little attention has been paid to the experiences of new managers and the challenges they face. The shelves are lined with books describing effective and successful leaders. But very few address the challenges of learning to lead, especially for the first-time manager.

For the past 15 years or so, Ive studied people making major career transitions to management, focusing in particular on the star performer who is promoted to manager. My original ambition was to provide a forum for new managers to speak in their own words about what it means to learn to manage. I initially followed 19 new managers over the course of their first year in an effort to get a rare glimpse into their subjective experience: What did they find most difficult? What did they need to learn? How did they go about learning it? What resources did they rely upon to ease the transition and master their new assignments?

Since my original research, which I described in the first edition of Becoming a Manager, published in 1992, Ive continued to study the personal transformation involved when someone becomes a boss. Ive written case studies about new managers in a variety of functions and industries and have designed and led new-manager leadership programs for companies and not-for-profit organizations. As firms have become leaner and more dynamicwith different units working together to offer integrated products and services and with companies working with suppliers, customers, and competitors in an array of strategic alliancesnew managers have described a transition that gets harder all the time.

Let me emphasize that the struggles these new managers face represent the norm, not the exception. These arent impaired managers operating in dysfunctional organizations. Theyre ordinary people facing ordinary adjustment problems. The vast majority of them survive the transition and learn to function in their new role. But imagine how much more effective they would be if the transition were less traumatic.