Going from Coworker to Leader
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This week I’m answering a great question that came in from a #culturedrop subscriber: “How do you go from coworker to leader and make it not weird? Especially when other people on the team applied for the same role, and obviously didn’t get it.”
I love this question, and what I have to say about it is great advice is good for anyone stepping into any new leadership role.
Setting off on the right foot.
Ultimately what you want to do is quickly build trust and build rapport; you want your team to like you and to establish good working relationships. The first element to great relationships is understanding each other.
In order to set off on a good foot with them, what I suggest you do is within a week or two of beginning to work together, sit down and have a one-on-one with each person on the team. In that conversation, my advice is to do something I've suggested before that employees do with a new leader, which is to have a conversation that consists of saying "Hey, I’d love to get a sense of what a ten out of ten would look like from me as your leader.”
The purpose of the conversation is to find out what they love (or don’t love) about a leader, and what you can do to set them up to be successful and establish a great working relationship with them.
Here are some great questions to ask:
How can I earn a gold star with you as a leader?
What do you need from me in order to be successful and thrive in your role?
What things do you really value in a work environment? What are things that you don't like, or that frustrate you?
What's your working style? What's your communication style?
What's the best way to give you feedback?
"What’s something that you’re aware of that people can often misunderstand about you?” (This one is my personal favorite).
It goes both ways.
That same conversation is a great opportunity for you to let them know some similar things about you as well that will help you both move forward. It's a chance to let them know how you like to give and receive feedback, and what things you really value, etc.
This dialogue will quickly cement and normalize transparency and a receptiveness to feedback. This is also helpful to demonstrate your leadership and communication style, which is hopefully one of being in service of your team’s success and being willing to learn and be flexible and adaptable.
A conversation like this sends the message of "I need to know how you can thrive here and what I can do to support that, beginning with understanding more about each other so that we can have a more positive, healthy working relationship."
An authentic path forward.
I think this is a much more effective way to step into a role like this, versus putting on a front of "I’m the one who got the job, I'm superior and I know everything, watch me be perfect" There's no need for that; it immediately turns people off and creates division.
Coming from a place of being authentic and vulnerable, asking and saying, "How can I support you? I'm here to make you look good and make sure that you have everything you need from me.”
This is a lightning fast way to come in and build rapport and trust with people. You’re always in a better place for building relationships when you approach things by trying to understand each other better, and have some really meaningful conversations about working together more effectively.
It’s always a win to build connection and start off on an excellent foot.
Want more?
This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop