Career Coach: What It Means To Be The Boss

You've Been Named Boss. Now What?

The biggest challenge will be to think in terms of managing a function ' getting things done through other people ' rather than doing everything yourself. Your job is to manage the assets--people, materials and authority-- assigned to you so that your department's goals are reached.

Be prepared for some surprises. No organization ever looks the same from the inside as it does from the outside.

Know that you are not participating in a popularity contest. It is nice to have those who report to you like you, but it is more important that they respect you.

Be realistic about the reception you receive from your staff, as well as your peers in management. There will be many signs of cordiality. Accept them graciously, but be aware that beneath the surface, there is another world rife with tensions.

You will be on trial as the organization takes your measure.

Key members of your staff will wonder why you were selected for the job instead of them.

Everyone with whom you work--your boss, staff and the heads of other departments--will recognize there has been a change in the power structure. Most people will ask themselves the central question: What does the new boss mean to me?

There will be those who will test you to see how you will exercise your authority. Will you insist on having your finger in every pie or will you lay down assignments and back off to give people space to do their job, measuring by their accomplishments?

Will you boss rule with an iron fist or a velvet glove?

The Meter Starts Running On Day One

Don't try to remake the world overnight, but keep in mind the meter starts running on day one.

Hasten to establish your competence. Reassure your boss that you will help him achieve his goals so that he will see you as an asset, not a threat. Demonstrate to your staff that you will lead them and protect them in the hierarchy. Various cliques will try to recruit you to their causes. Many will seek to curry favor with you. Keep both groups at arm's length. Demonstrate that you are a team player, but you that you understand your responsibilities as their boss. You will have a degree of objectivity in your view of the situation on the first day that will never be possible again because the personalities, the pressures, the gains and losses you will encounter will color your thinking as time goes by. Record Your Impressions At The End Of The First Week

At the end of the first week in your new job, write a memo to yourself as to how you see the situation, the task, the pluses and downside factors. Describe how you feel about the people, especially your boss. Set out your immediate and long term goals.

Update this document as you go along; use your initial impressions as a benchmark. Always be aware that your risks will be greater because the scope of your responsibilities is broader and the impact of your decisions is more crucial. Never forget that with fewer people between you and the top, you will have less protective cover.

Always see the activities of your department in the context of the larger mission of the corporation. Communicate this view to your staff. If you are to succeed as a boss you must have their working support.

Ask yourself every day, 'How can I do this job so well that the organization will be looking to assign more and more responsibility to me?'


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Ramon Greenwood's widely read blog provides more free career advice. He coaches from a successful career as Senior VP at American Express, author of career-related books, successful entrepreneur, and a senior executive/consultant in Fortune 500 companies. Please click here for additional free career coaching.