Identifying the greatest challenge new leaders face
At Sirise Coaching, much of our work is with new leaders.
Some have just been promoted to their first leadership role as a head of department, whilst others are moving into their first executive or non-executive role. Invariably they are asking similar questions ranging from “What do new leaders need to know?” to “What do I need to do first?” to “How can I be more confident in my new role?”
Questions like these are part of the reason why I developed the Sirise Stepping Up To Leadership Programme. As a chartered accountant, I understand the complexities of business and can help my clients navigate these and as a professional coach, I understand people and the power of connections, which can support all of us in our leadership roles.
Coaching is a diverse discipline and coaches have various approaches to supporting their clients through career development. I help my clients better understand their strengths and how they can use them to develop their individual leadership style; get comfortable with change and uncertainty; have clear priorities; and understand others’ expectations of you.
Stepping up to leadership focuses on your ability to step away from your comfort zone, where you’re likely to have been a confident operational manager, or an expert who is focused on one or two facets of the organisation’s strategy, to someone who has responsibility for the entire big picture; often a huge jump.
What do new leaders struggle with the most?
There’s a perception that new leaders often struggle with effective delegation, but I don’t tend to see this with my clients. They have their new role because they’ve been effective in managing their team and are usually very comfortable with delegating well. BUT (and there’s always a but isn’t there), those in new leadership roles often find that they get squeezed between their function and the rest of the organisation and struggle to manage everyone’s expectations and to keep them all happy.
Newsflash – You’re unlikely to be able to keep them all happy but you can develop your ability to think more about their needs and pre-empt any problems that arise.
Being effective in a leadership role is about striking a balance between overseeing operations at different levels. It’s about developing the ability to not only focus on the small things, but to keep corporate vision front of mind. It’s about taking the time needed to think things through and devise workable strategies.
New leaders tend to keep one foot in operations while realising they now need to be a bridge to where the organisation is headed. They now have to consider the overall strategy of an organisation, not just a part of it. This means nurturing relationships between other departments not just within one department.
“Very often it’s a coach that unlocks the things in your mind that won’t come naturally to the surface. We just ask the killer questions that make you think!”
I often see those in new roles struggling with their confidence. The initial ‘glow’ of your strengths and talents being recognised through your promotion or new job has started to fade and now you begin to question your own ability to get stuff done. Not only do I help clients to priortise but I also think it’s important to recognise that confidence levels go deeper than this.
I work with leaders at all levels to better understand their strengths and their personal values and how they can use these to develop their own leadership style. All too often, we’re conditioned to think that we need to be a different person in a leadership role, when in fact the best leaders know themselves well; playing to their strengths, knowing what’s important to them and finding ways to accommodate those things that don’t come easy to them.
As Kevin Kruse of LEADx writes in Forbes, our challenge is to develop Authentic Leadership.
In a debriefing session with a CEO the other day, we had a bit of a light bulb moment. We had observed how some senior executives within his team weren’t able to move forward because they were clinging on to being experts. Their technical ability had taken them far, but now the Chief Exec and Board were demanding more and need these senior executives to leave their comfort zone in order to play a role in building a more effective company culture, where the staff can grow and the organisation is able to be more purpose-driven and successful.
Some of these technical experts, (in this case they were engineers) were full of ideas about ways in which the company culture needed to develop, while others seemed to have huge mountains in front of them. My perception was that they were scared because this element of leadership was still so new to them, even though some had been in leadership roles for years. So they were clinging on to what they knew and creating barriers to change and that's never going to deliver the best results, particularly in our current uncertain world.
Executive coaching and new leaders
Executive coaching can make a huge difference to all leaders, but particularly those who are in new roles or perhaps those who have new expectations placed on them. It provides a safe space where leaders can learn and can share their hopes and fears with someone who gets it and who won’t judge.
Coaching is also something that can improve and accelerate your success as a leader. I recently listened to Marcia Reynolds speak about the ways in which coaches can overcome resistance in clients and one of my favourite quotes from that session was that as coaches “You’re not there to make clients feel better, but to help them see better”. It sums up exactly why I love what I do.
New leaders have questions, but we also have questions… KILLLER QUESTIONS that challenge our clients with perspectives they may not have considered.
Very often it’s the executive coach that asks the questions that unlock the things in your mind that don’t come naturally to the surface. That’s what professional coaches are good at. We just ask killer questions that make you say, “Oh… oh… I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
Yes, the transition to a new role is a process, not something that happens overnight. It takes us far out of our comfort zone and stretches us, sometimes beyond what we think we can handle. This is why an executive coach can often assist with much-needed focus, accountability and vision.
At Sirise, our coaching programmes typically run for six to twelve months, with a meeting every 2-4 weeks. Contact me to arrange a 30 minute discovery call and give the new leaders in your organisation the edge.