Don't slip when climbing the corporate ladder

That’s how you start building trust, she adds, “showing you can value the knowledge this person has.” If a manager excludes the workers around them they’ll feel alienated.

Over a period of months, the employee began to accept Tomlinson and “we ultimately developed an extraordinarily good working relationship.”

In another promotion scenario, things didn’t work out as well. There was one individual who felt they should have gotten the job over Tomlinson. Even though she talked to the individual about the tension, and even enlisted the help of another manager the employee seemed to respect, the situation only deteriorated.

“It was starting to have a negative impact over the rest of the group,” she explains. “There were about 8 people in the group and when one person is not part of the group it really stands out.”

It was becoming a performance problem and that person would have eventually been fired, but the individual decided to leave.

“Sometimes we think we can fix everything but we can’t,” she adds.

According to Kusy’s research: “former coworkers who are now subordinates will set up three camps: 20 percent will accept the change and your leadership, 70 percent will get on board with new initiatives if given a reasonable process to work with, and 10 percent will be hard-core resisters. Focusing on the resisters, he says, is a very common mistake. “Studies show that newly promoted leaders are more likely to effect long-lasting change when they channel more energy into working with those who are receptive or neutral about the change initiative, rather than with resisters.”

Todd Dewett, a management professor at Wright State University, offers these tips for the recently promoted:

Recognize the first few months are by far the most crucial – and they present something of a paradox you must embrace.

• You must take charge, be decisive, and project confidence.
• At the same time you must show deference to the importance of your subordinates by genuinely seeking feedback about relevant issues, by providing them voice on issues that matter, and by sharing credit widely.

Above all else focus on these three things in dealing with your team: 

• Find ways to reduce the ambiguity they sense about you or their jobs.
• Be fair and transparent.
• Always frame discussions and decisions positively.

Finally, two vital ideas for any new manager:

• Pursue leadership training to continue your growth.
• Find successful leaders in your organization who might serve as mentors to share with you what they have leaned.

Even more importantly, Tomlinson stresses, expect to make the occasional foul ups, and own up to them. “If you make a mistake your staff knows,” she notes. “If you say, ‘I can’t possibly make a mistake’ you will only damage your credibility.”

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