Are you the New Leader?
By Michael Rogers, Teamwork Leadership
Being the new leader or person in charge of any organization can bring with it a lot of challenges, self-doubt and worry. Why? Because it is change. And any time there is a change there will be some resistance. Resistance from those that are being led, resistance from those who don’t know whether to trust you, and your own resistance as you doubt yourself during what can sometimes be a steep learning curve. This is a trying time for any new leader, but also the most critical.
Here are a few tips to help you through this important transition:
- Recognize that you aren’t alone. Many have gone through exactly the same feelings and concerns that you are having.
- Keep the end in mind and practice patience. You will have a vision. It is important to remember that nothing is built-in a day. Keep the vision in mind and continue to work with it – let it excite you and continue to motivate you. And don’t stop sharing it with everyone else.
- Recognize set backs as learning opportunities. You will have some set backs, it is normal. How you deal with those set backs will define you as a leader. You can get discouraged or you can use set backs as a challenge to overcome and become stronger. Learn and move on.
- Persevere with confidence and seek help if you need to. As a leader you have the skills to be successful or you wouldn’t be the leader. Trust yourself and your abilities. But if you need help don’t hesitate to ask for it.
- Keep learning. The best thing you can do for those you lead, is to improve yourself. As a new leader you will have lots of challenges and very little time, but take the time. It can be as little as reading a chapter a day as your computer boots up in the morning.
