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Are We Setting People Up to Succeed?

Michelle Battista

We've all seen it, or perhaps experienced it ourselves.

Someone is brilliant at their job. They're knowledgeable, highly capable, respected by their colleagues, and naturally become the obvious choice when a management opportunity comes along.

But managing people is a very different skill from doing the job itself.

Many managers find themselves leading teams not because they set out to become leaders, but because they excelled in their previous role. They're often referred to as "accidental managers."

This has been a big topic of conversation in my house recently. My 21-year-old daughter has applied for a Team Leader role after doing exceptionally well in her current position. One of the interview questions she was asked was how she would feel managing colleagues who have been with the organisation longer than her, people who applied for the role and weren't successful, and even friends she currently works alongside.

We often promote people because they're great at what they do, but we don't always equip them with the skills needed to manage people, navigate difficult conversations, build credibility, or lead former peers.

Management can be one of the most rewarding roles in an organisation, but it can also be one of the most challenging. The impact a manager has on employee experience, engagement, wellbeing and performance is huge.

There may be some new managers out there that could do with a bit of moral support or some practical advice and guidance to support them on their new journey so I’d love to hear your experiences and tips for those stepping into leadership for the first time.

Looking back, what's one piece of advice you wish you'd been given before managing people for the first time?

Or, if you're new to management, what's been your biggest learning so far?

P.S. I'll be sharing these tips with my daughter too Wink, so thank you in advance for any words of wisdom!

As a little return from me, the CIPD and FutureLearn offer a free People Management Skills course that's ideal for aspiring, new, or existing line managers looking for a refresher.

The course takes around 3 hours per week over 5 weeks and covers practical people management skills to help build confidence in leading others. There's also the option to purchase a certificate on completion if you'd like one.


Feel free to share it with anyone who is stepping into management for the first time, considering a leadership role, or simply looking to strengthen their people management skills. Blush

Parents

  • The worst two managers I ever had were also both from an academic/business HR background. 

    Both were tolerable but lacked the 'common touch', both were 'highly qualified in HR but neither had ever had an 'ordinary' job where you had to get along with people.'

    One had no concept of how their role contributed towards running a business profitably and the other had little idea how to negotiate with unions and was  both arrogant and condescending towards them in negotiations.

    ( I could give you a couple of examples but.........)  One of them was eventually sacked and the other died after a couple of months.)

    The best people managers I had  or came across were, in no particular order:

    1. NCOs when I was a Radio Operator in the RN, who'd been there, done that , knew the job inside out but had the common touch and didn't 'pull rank', when they asked for something to be done.  The worst were higher ranking officers, who were often quite arrogant, lacked the 'common touch', and came from academic backgrounds.   The ones who'd risen through the ranks were normally better.

    2.  I spent several years working as a Scaffolder.  I always found those who managed us were perfectly fine, pleasant and decent managers/supervisors.   They too had been there, done it themselves and had the 'common touch'.

    3.  Probably the best people managers I came across was when I became a trainer in  outdoor management centres.  One I used to have strong disagreements with, often resulting arguments but we had a good working relationship and I liked him. (I ended up contributing to a CIPD publication on Outdoor Management Development).

    The best  manager (and management trainer) I ever had (Ho Ho Ho,) was someone who got promoted over my head.  Boy was I annoyed as I thought it should have been me.   However she was an excellent manager, taught me lots about managing and dealing with people and even more about training other people. So good in fact, I eventually married her we've together for  ???  40 years.

    I have no idea why the HR profession claims it is the "people profession', as I've said before there is little content i've seen from when I did a DPM some years ago that would make us, 'people people'.   There are very few HR people who manage large teams, whereas in many industries and workplaces managers quite often work with large numbers of employees. 

    You can learn all  you want about management theory and practice you wish from books, but you can't beat learning from people who manage others well and learning from them.



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  • The worst two managers I ever had were also both from an academic/business HR background. 

    Both were tolerable but lacked the 'common touch', both were 'highly qualified in HR but neither had ever had an 'ordinary' job where you had to get along with people.'

    One had no concept of how their role contributed towards running a business profitably and the other had little idea how to negotiate with unions and was  both arrogant and condescending towards them in negotiations.

    ( I could give you a couple of examples but.........)  One of them was eventually sacked and the other died after a couple of months.)

    The best people managers I had  or came across were, in no particular order:

    1. NCOs when I was a Radio Operator in the RN, who'd been there, done that , knew the job inside out but had the common touch and didn't 'pull rank', when they asked for something to be done.  The worst were higher ranking officers, who were often quite arrogant, lacked the 'common touch', and came from academic backgrounds.   The ones who'd risen through the ranks were normally better.

    2.  I spent several years working as a Scaffolder.  I always found those who managed us were perfectly fine, pleasant and decent managers/supervisors.   They too had been there, done it themselves and had the 'common touch'.

    3.  Probably the best people managers I came across was when I became a trainer in  outdoor management centres.  One I used to have strong disagreements with, often resulting arguments but we had a good working relationship and I liked him. (I ended up contributing to a CIPD publication on Outdoor Management Development).

    The best  manager (and management trainer) I ever had (Ho Ho Ho,) was someone who got promoted over my head.  Boy was I annoyed as I thought it should have been me.   However she was an excellent manager, taught me lots about managing and dealing with people and even more about training other people. So good in fact, I eventually married her we've together for  ???  40 years.

    I have no idea why the HR profession claims it is the "people profession', as I've said before there is little content i've seen from when I did a DPM some years ago that would make us, 'people people'.   There are very few HR people who manage large teams, whereas in many industries and workplaces managers quite often work with large numbers of employees. 

    You can learn all  you want about management theory and practice you wish from books, but you can't beat learning from people who manage others well and learning from them.



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