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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

Leaders aren't born, they're created!  While some people have natural traits and characteristics that aid in their ability to work with others, leading successfully is a skill that can only come with experience and training.

Leadership, an art form in itself, is incredibly difficult to master, even after years upon years of experience. 

Good news!  There is a way to speed up your leadership learning curve and do so successfully.  With all the training, seminars, books, coaches/ mentors and leadership philosophies – where the heck do you even begin?  The best advice I’ve been given is to keep it simple.  Actually, what was really shared with me was an incredible scientific methodology called KISS, ‘keep it simple stupid’. 
Keeping it simple means you’re much more likely to successfully understand, implement and retain the things you learn.  As it relates to leadership, SQR1 developed a philosophy and way of leading, called STEP Leadership, which focuses on keeping things simple while removing all the scientific data and tough to understand language which often plagues leadership development, philosophies and training. 

Focusing on the things you can control, STEP Leadership teaches leaders how to successfully lead any team or company through four easy to understand areas of focus:
Self Health
Team Focus
Engaged
Priority Driven
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