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​For many Americans career progression is as important to them as the air they breathe.  When we’re at a point in our careers where we’re looking for the next best thing or a new challenge often times it means taking into consideration a management role.

To be successful in management, or leadership for that matter, it requires a completely different set of skills which are typically very different than the skills which were needed to be successful in a staff level role.  When we are a staff employee, meaning we don’t have any direct reports, our focus is to ensure we do the best individual job possible.  Regardless if we’re a part of a team or not, when we’re a staff employee we really have one main concern – make sure our butts are protected by doing a great job.

Being in a management role is very different.  While it’s important the manager does a good job, she is also responsible for a number of direct reports and therefore is responsible for their contributions as well. 

The transition to management can either be a dream come true or a living nightmare.  Regardless of which camp you may be in it’s important to consider two things before you make the decision to throw your hat in the ring for the next management opportunity:

1. Companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time
2. Do you have what it takes to be an effective leader?

What the statistic above from HBR and Gallup tells us is that it’s incredibly tough to make a good decision on who will be successful in a leadership role.  While the decision to hire or promote someone into a management role ultimate rests with the company, what happens thereafter is largely attributed to the individual in the role.  Let’s make no mistake about it, a move from staff level to management can be an incredibly rewarding opportunity but to be successful in the new venture you need to know beforehand if you’ve got the foundation for what it takes to be successful leading others.
Before you consider a career in management think about how you deal with these five foundational leadership questions:

1.Do You Genuinely Care About Other People?
I’m going to take a hard stance here and simply say if you don’t care about others and aren’t willing to put others before yourself you’ll never be truly successful in leadership.  I choose the word ‘never’ because you may see some success early on however in the long run a lack of genuine care for the people will always bring about challenges which are near impossible to overcome.  The best leaders out there, regardless of their titles or the size of the company they work for, view leadership as an act of service and truly care about the wellbeing of their employees.  “Leaders eat last.” – Simon Sinek
 
2.How will you handle ‘The Technician Syndrome’?
This is particularly important for people in a technical capacity to consider.  The word ‘technician’ refers to a person who is in an individual contributor role focusing on hands-on work.  When you make a transition into management you are stepping away from some or most of your daily technical hands on duties.  There are some exceptions to this, for example if you work for a start-up or small company and are a ‘working executive’, however most of the time management roles focus their time and energy on their people and a strategy for getting work done.  People who have technical backgrounds tend to struggle with this change as often times their original passion which has guided them to this point in their career was focused on being hands-on in their role, creating, building or testing things. (a Mechanical Engineer that designs new products)
 
3.Are You An Influencer or a Dictator?
What is your natural working style when you are in situations where you are working with others?  Do you have a tendency to listen, support and coach or are you the type that would rather just tell people what to do?  Successful leaders do more listening than they do talking.  They understand the importance of giving their people an opportunity to contribute ideas, take risks, do things their own way, etc.  Managers that don’t do this have a hard time motivating their employees as they view their employees as workers who are to be told what to do, when to do and how to do their work.
 
4.Can You Delegate?
Can you give someone else an opportunity to take on a project or work?  Are you able to allow someone else the chance to take the spot light and recognition?  Do you trust others to get the job done?  These are all important questions which tie into delegation.  Successful leaders delegate frequently because they know firsthand that it isn’t wise or feasible for them to do everything.  Delegation also has a unique outcome which communicates trust and ownership to your employees whereas not delegating sends the exact opposite signal.
 
5.Are You Willing to be a Shrink?
It’s not the prettiest part of the job but a consideration nonetheless.  A very real part of management is dealing with people problems, like a shrink would, and working constantly in conflict resolution.  This aspect of the job often sends people screaming for the hills as dealing with people problems can be challenging and often viewed as a waste of time in the corporate world.  Successful leaders view the people interaction part of the job as an opportunity for improving themselves and their employees while further developing a deeper relationship.  They look forward to the moments to learn from, listen, coach and guide their employees.  They do this because they genuinely care about the welfare of their employees both at work and home.
 
If you’re considering going into management take the time to think about how you show up with these five foundational leadership questions.  What’s important to consider is that if you don’t have these intangible skills now can you develop them over time?  The answer is most definitely yes, it’ll just take time, patience and a willingness to always be learning. 

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Leadership is one of the hardest things a person can do.  There’s no manual, no playbook, no cliff notes that give leaders the ‘secret sauce’ to successfully lead the charge.  Sure there are thousands of avenues one could go to learn more about leadership however at the end of the day it’s still a job that mainly rests on intangible actions like care, intuition and respect for the very people leaders serve.

Leading can be a lonely experience. 

The feeling of loneliness at the top is much more common than most people realize as more than 50% of leaders indicate they have experienced loneliness at one point or another in their career.  The stats are even higher for first time leaders at a whopping 70%.

When leaders experience solitary the impacts can be devastating.  Isolation and loneliness have a direct negative affect on a leaders’ performance which then directly impacts their employees, departments, business units and companies. 

How is it then that leaders find themselves down in the dumps?  Some of the most common causes are:
1. Forced Isolation
Leaders often times seclude themselves from the rest of the group by working in an office which can create imaginary barriers between them and their staff.  Closing the door actual creates a real barrier that communicates “I’m not available and don’t have time for you”.  Regardless if this isolation was intentional or unintentional it produces the same results where the leaders’ staff hesitates to communicate with their boss, or not at all.

2. Decision Making
In most businesses decision making is typically left to the people carrying the torch.  When decisions go well all is good in the world yet when decisions produce less than spectacular results the leader is left out in the cold to take the brunt of the responsibility.  It’s part of the job but it can also produce isolation at a whole new level which isn’t typically understood or felt by the leaders direct reports.

3. Don’t Ask For Help
Many times isolation is self-inflicted as leaders don’t ask for help from their teams or peers.  There’s an unspoken feeling for many leaders which goes something like, “they expect me to know everything because that’s what I get paid for”.  Thoughts like this can be incredibly damaging and certainly have no justifiable basis for being correct or healthy.

4. Lack Humility
When leaders act in a way which broadcasts ‘I’m more important than you because I’m in a leadership role’ employees quickly disengage, refraining from putting effort in to build relationships with their leaders or working hard on their behalf.  When leaders act this way many times it can be attributed to ego.

5. Poor Treatment of Others
​One of the quickest ways a leader can find themselves on solo island is by treating their employees or staff in a poor manner, as they lack emotional intelligence.  When employees feel like they aren’t valued or respected they withdraw which commonly leads to limited interaction and feedback with leadership.  The result is a drift occurs in the organization between what leadership wants and what employees are doing.

Let’s be clear here, we aren’t about to throw a pity party for our leaders.  They’re grown ups right, big boys and big girls who have made the choice to enter leadership on their own accord.  So if they’re feeling isolated or lonely than it’s by their own doing, right? 

Not necessarily. 

While we’d all love to think that statement above is accurate the reality is that employees do in fact have some ownership in the leadership isolation situation.  Employees have a unique ability to see things their leaders don’t, hear things their leaders don’t and help in situations their leaders would otherwise be clueless about.

These five options when implemented help to foster an environment of support and mutual respect, one in which both leader and employee benefits from:

1. Leaders need to develop a servants mindset for their employees
2. Employees need to commit to giving feedback to leadership in real time
3. Leaders need to develop peer groups and or an advisory group
4. Leaders should focus on getting a coach or mentor
5. Leaders need to humble themselves and ask their employees for help and feedback

When leaders and employees work together and support one another it significantly reduces the likelihood people of any kind will experience isolation. 

​“There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.” - Henri Frederic Amiel

Employee attrition often times can be boiled down to one or two culprits. One of the largest contributors to people leaving their employer has to do with a lack of respect in the workplace. When employees' feel they aren’t valued for their contributions the thought of leaving their boss or their company becomes a daily reality. How can leadership impact their employees, increasing job satisfaction, career happiness and employee initiative?  Through PRAISE. If you happen to be in a leadership role (noticed I chose the word leadership and not manager – there’s a big difference) you have the ability to directly influence, in a positive way, the experience your employees have in their jobs. When done with genuine care and appreciation, praise can have the biggest impact on an employees’ performance and mindset and the best part is providing praise is free. Zip, ziltch, nada…nothing out of your pocket or that impressive departmental budget you control.
Recognition in the work place boosts employee confidence empowering them to increase productivity. Rewarding and praising your counterparts or direct reports in front of their peers sends a powerful message that far surpasses any monetary reward. Don't get me wrong, plenty of us enjoy bonuses for a job well done but praise hits at a deeper level than just the pocket book.  When employees know they’re respected and appreciated, motivation and individual morale typically surges upward accompanied by an increased positive work environment. If you haven’t read, “How Full Is Your Bucket?”, by Tom Rath and Don Clifton, I would highly suggest doing so. This book highlights the importance of recognition in both the work place and life, providing positive strategies to uplift those around you. 41% of job seekers identified a lack of recognition as the largest contributor to poor productivity, which in turn directly contributes to employee attrition.
 Two rules of thumb to remember when giving praise: 1) make sure its genuine, and 2) make sure it’s not the flavor of the month. Giving genuine praise when it’s deserved is important to the health of any company and employee.

What type of a person are you…do it yourself or have someone else do it for you?
Perhaps it’s situational as sometimes, well who am I kidding – most of the time – I like to think I can do things myself.  However, when it comes to business I find that I learn something new everyday which helps me acknowledge the fact that I don't know it all and there's a lot to learn.  When we’re faced with a situation where you don't know something in business or can’t do it on our own, where do you go from there? 
Many entrepreneurs and business owners when faced with a situation where they need help tend to use their network to find people who perform well in the area they need help in, to come in and support them with the task at hand.  This support arrangement is typically referred to as consulting (or services in the technical market place).  A consultant comes in as a hired gun and fulfills an important role by offering support to people or companies that can't do the work themselves, for a variety of reasons.  It’s a form of outsourcing and it’s a $100+ billion industry per year.  With that much cash flying around, it’s clear consulting is not just important, but there’s an incredibly strong demand for it in the market.
There’s a lot of ways businesses can get work done, consulting being one of the many options.  A growing resource in the business world since the early to mid nineties, picking up significantly in the last 10 years, is coaching. 
Consulting.  Coaching.  So what’s the difference?
For starters, consultants do the work themselves, taking care of a specific task or project.  They are brought in to do the work themselves and they typically dictate how the work is to be performed.  A coach utilizes a very different approach by teaching the individual or business how to perform better in the areas they struggle in.  Like a sports coach, a business coach improves their ‘players’ so they can perform better not just in the moment but also in the future.  
You might be thinking…which is better?  Unfortunately, it’s not a black and white answer as both services provide a different outcome and are often used for different purposes.  As the old saying goes, “you can give (consulting) a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, or you can teach (coaching) a man to fish and he’ll eat for the rest of his life”.  Sometimes people might need help with a set task and it isn't an integral part of their business, in that situation consulting support is a great option.  Perhaps a business owner or a manager struggles with leading their workforce to a higher level of achievement.  In this scenario coaching would be the suggested way of support as with coaching the professional gets one-on-one development support, increasing their competency in the area they struggled in.  As a result, the individual getting help comes out better and so does their team.
While both support options, coaching and consulting, can help businesses get to the next level, there are a variety of things you need to be aware of before making the decision to utilize either of these support services.  These seven items are the bare bones minimums you need to consider BEFORE you bring on a consultant or coach:

1. Why do you want the help? (if you can't articulate to yourself why you want the help, you'll struggle explaining it to another person which in turn most likely won't produce the results you're looking for)
2. There’s 1,000+ support options, but which is right for you? (with so many consultants and coaches out there it’s advisable you select one that understands your business and has had experience supporting similar businesses prior; to find the right expertise a great place to start are industry associations that support your specific business)
3. Certifications don’t necessarily produce positive outcomes (in the coaching world in particular there’s a lot of people claiming they’re experts because they have a certificate to prove it, case in point there’s dozens of associations one can join for a nominal fee, do the course work and take a test and there you have it they’re now a 'coach'; I’m a firm believer in most business settings hands-on experience is better than what someone may have read out of a text book)
4. Have a formal agreement in place (here’s free advice and you don’t need to go to that online ‘zoom’ place for...don’t ever go into a business arrangement without some sort of services or partnership agreement in place; the one time you need it you’ll be thankful you spent the time to set up the working relationship correctly)
5. Set benchmarks based on a predetermined and agreed upon timelines (as the user of the consulting or coaching service you always want to be able to maintain control over what is happening; when you agree upon predetermined timelines for work and each party signs off on it you’re much more likely to get what you need without paying additional money for overtime work or extended timelines)
6. Additional fees (can’t say this one enough, make sure you understand the nature of the relationship you’re entering and what is included and what isn’t; overtime rates, travel time, per diem, work outside the normal scope, etc. are just some of the items you’ll most likely be faced with that could lead to additional money being shelled out)
7. Agreed upon outcomes (different from a ‘predetermined timeline’, it’s important you and the other party speak about what success looks like before you enter into the partnership; once both sides know what they’re working towards it’s much easier to accomplish it – as well as it builds in a foundation of accountability; make sure this language finds its way into your new partnership agreement you've put together)

You may have just read these seven items and thought to yourself, “I’m not going to use one of those services, it sounds like a headache”.  I can assure you, if done properly, utilizing outside support can be one of the best decisions you make to help elevate your game, business and general efficiencies.  Making wise and educated decisions before you bring in support of any kind will significantly increase your chances for positive outcomes and a better you (or your business).

What’s the mythical trait that allows people to be exceptional leaders?  Don’t worry, it’s not as elusive as a unicorn or a four leaf clover.  It’s something we all have to varying degrees, yet few understand it or have put time into developing it.  Ever heard someone say, “she’s a great leader, she must have been born that way.”  When we see or speak of leaders that have made an impact, that intangible piece we’re referring to actually has a name.  In today's world in order for you to ‘unlock’ your leadership potential, or improve your leadership ability for that matter, the single best thing you can focus on developing is your Emotional Intelligence (EI).  Emotional Intelligence is being self aware of your emotions, understanding them, and knowing how they affect those around you.  This includes being able to see the emotions of others and what impacts they have on the individual and those around them.
EI isn’t the new kid on the block.  Daniel Goleman first brought the term to light in the mid 90’s and applied it to business via a Harvard Business Review article in ’98.  Since then it’s been talked about and studied like wild fire with plenty of studies concluded and replicated all pointing to the same results.  What these studies tell us is those who have a higher than average EI index outperform their counterparts in leadership roles in almost all aspects than those who don’t have EI or very little of it.  
I recently watched a video online which gave one of the best definitions and breakdowns of EI I’ve seen in recent memory.  James Mankelow, CEO of Mindtools, shares this easy to follow breakdown of what makes up Emotional Intelligence:

1. Self Awareness – understand how you’re feeling and the affects on others
2. Self Regulation – ability to control emotions and actions
3. Motivation – those with high motivation willingly put off short term rewards for long term success
4. Empathy – intuitive understanding of others emotions and what motivates them
5. Social Skills – ability to work positively with others and manage conflict

As I've been learning more about EI I've come across an incredible, and at times overwhelming, amount of information on the subject as well as leadership, including two reports that offered up a sobering dose of reality:
DDI recently did their annual Global Leadership Forecast survey where they spoke with 15,000+ executives amongst 2,000+ companies.  The 60 page report is chalk full of data, most of which points towards one central theme – there is a lack of confidence amongst existing leaders on who is going to take the torch for the next leg of the race.  In fact, the executives that were surveyed in DDI’s report cited that 48% of the workforce doesn’t meet a ‘high-potential’ status, which would be necessary for leadership roles.
If that isn’t enough of a reason to spend time improving your EI take a look at what Deloitte published via their Business Confidence Survey: the majority of executives (52% in current roles and 59% in transition) identified one of the most troubling business issues they are faced with is that their direct reports don’t have the skills to take on elevated leadership roles.
However you want to cut it up there seems to be a gap between leadership opportunity and the ambition of the larger workforce to seize it.  Sure you could blame all sorts of other factors for why that is but at the end of the day it seems as though people aren't stepping up like they used too.  I like to fancy myself as an optimist, so choose to look at it this way – if we all have the ability to control our destiny (which I believe we do) and there’s now proof behind what can get us there (developing our EI), then it’s a matter of elbow grease and time before we arrive at our destination.
Leadership is an art form, the more you understand yourself and your EI, the better chances you’ll have at climbing the ladder to your golden perch while also helping those around and under you do the same.