Your First 90 Days

Nobody becomes a manager without a few stumbles.  It’s not like you get management training, and then get promoted. That would make too much sense.  No, better to throw you in the deep end and see if you can swim.

I never wanted to be a manager. But when my boss asked me to step into the role, it was hard to say no. After much early stumbling, it worked out for me, but there should have been a way to pre-determine if it was a good fit. So before taking the leap to management, ask yourself the following questions:

Guest post by Jennifer King, HR Analyst at Software Advice

Congratulations! You’ve finally been promoted to “manager.” While the bump in salary and new job title are nice, you now have heaps of responsibility you didn’t have before. As a manager, part of your new job is being responsible for the growth and well-being of an entire team.

You may be crying for help at this point. I spoke with a few recently-appointed managers and an executive coach to get their words of wisdom and advice for first-time managers.

In today's podcast Cindy and Laura discuss some of the things they learned when they became managers for the first time in an excerpt from the Manage Fearlessly Survival Guide: Your First 90 Days As A Manager.

In this interview Co-Founder of Manage Fearlessly, Cindy Flanders, shares some brief lessons learned from her first foray into management.

Do you know someone that has a management lesson to share?  Perhaps they have managed in unusual or extreme situations, or have the reputation as the person to work for?  Drop us a line with your suggestions at cindyandlaura@managefearlessly.com.  As always, we love to hear from you!

“Cindy was the worst manager I ever had.”   - Mark

Not the most ringing endorsement regarding my performance as a brand new manager! It’s also not at all what I thought any member of my team would ever say about me.Though Mark and I laugh about it now, I was very defensive at first.   I then came to realize how right he was and what I should have done to make sure he never uttered those words.

I truly did have my head in the sand. To avoid earning the dubious award for “Worst Boss Ever,” follow these Five Golden New Manager Rules: