Progressing as a new boss

May 19, 2012. Bill Szydlowski

Some steps are necessary if you want to excel at your new management job. In this short essay, we’ll provide some “soft skills” you need to acquire if you want to stand apart from all the other supervisors and managers in the workplace.

One of the first things you must learn in how to be a good manager is that the job of actual widget output is someone else’s … you may have received this job because you were a very good worker, but you’re no longer that person. Let the people that are paid to do the work, do the work. Your job is to motivate, innovate, supervise, mentor, and a lot of other stuff. Measure output, don’t measure the “way” someone does the job.

You must strive to be completely transparent. That means every decision you make that affects your people needs to be see-through. Make sure your people know all the decision-making criteria – or even ask them to help you create the criteria!

Part of your job is to learn to motivate. That means finding out what motivates each individual. That could be one-site daycare, dental benefits, or simply a paycheck. But you have to find out. Makes decisions on your part easier, and it’s good for your people to see you’re interested.

Speaking of interest in their lives, next time finance posts that “accounting manager job description” looking for someone, ask yourself if there’s anyone in your group that could apply. If there is, mention it to them. If they want to apply, help them any way you can. Your job is also to see advancement for your people.

Be really fair. Treat everyone the same. Even if you have favorites, the only person that should know that is you.

Let them see you fail. Failure is the only good way to learn. So next time you fail, advertise what it was you did wrong, how you corrected the mistake, and how you will do things differently in the future. Everyone likes a boss that is fallible.

These are only a few of the tips you can use to truly excel at your new (or old) management job. Try them all – you’ll be surprised as to the progress you make.

Updated May 19, 2012. Published June 12, 2011. Bill Szydlowski