Preparing for A Management Job: 3 Ways to Get Started

Introduction

“How do I get to be a manager?”  I heard that question from most of the people I’ve coached and mentored over the last few years.  Answering that question is a central part of why I launched MyManagementMentor.  My primary goal is to help aspiring and early-career managers to be successful.  Preparing for a management job is a critical first step.  

It’s been a long time since I was a new manager, but I remember some of the hard lessons I learned – mostly by making mistakes.  In this article and the next one, I’ll share some of those lessons. I’ve also been researching the topic and have found some excellent material that I think will add some complementary perspectives. (I’m putting links to these on the Manager Resources page.)

While preparing this article, I’ve also been interviewing several successful managers that I’ve worked with throughout my career. I’m excited to include their thoughts in the next article that will focus on the challenges and opportunities that new managers face. 

OK. Let’s get started!

A Preparedness Paradox

How much time do you spend reading reviews of new products before you make a purchase?  When you planned your last vacation (pre-pandemic), how much time did you spend on TripAdvisor or Yelp!, reading about the places you planned to visit?  

We do our homework before making commitments of our money and leisure time.  We ask questions like “What will this cost?”, “Will it meet my needs?”, “What preparations do I need to make before starting this journey?” and “Do I have the right equipment?”

I’m willing to bet that most of us spend more time thinking about how we will spend our money than on how we will spend our working hours. But if you’re thinking about getting into management, I recommend asking similar questions. 

A survey conducted by OfficeVibe.com found that “53% of managers said they did not feel like they had an accurate view of what it meant to be a manager when they got started in their role.”  Imagine that.  Over half of new managers didn’t know what to expect.  

Many of the people I’ve coached and mentored have been in similar situations.  They each had a goal- “to advance” or “to move up the ladder” – but few could articulate what that meant beyond “moving into a management role”.  And a few who had already taken management jobs found that they were unprepared for the challenges that accompanied the role.

Here are three steps you can take as you are preparing for a management job.

Step #1 – Do Your Homework

The first thing I recommend you do if you’re considering moving into management is to do your homework on what the jobs entail.  Two ways to do that are:

1. Talk to managers you know.  Start with your boss and then go talk to others.  Ask them about their jobs.  What do they like?  What do they dislike?  What challenges have they faced?  What skills are important?  What have they learned and what would they do differently if they were starting over?
   
   
2. Read.  Look for articles and sites like this one.  Google “becoming a manager”.  You’ll find lots of information.  Not all of it will be relevant to you, and some of it may be of questionable value, but if you’re discerning about the source, you will be able to gain a good perspective.  (Check out the Manager Resources page for a curated list of the articles I’ve been reading.)

Step #2 – Do a Serious Self-assessment

Now that you have a better idea about what a manager’s role is like, it’s time to do a comprehensive self-assessment before you begin searching for your first manager role.  There are three areas to consider:

• Your interests
• Your personality
• Your skills

In each of these areas, challenge yourself to be honest about your capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses.  

Assessing Your Interests

A critical question to ask yourself as you contemplate becoming a manager is “Do I enjoy working with people?”  It’s highly likely that you will be managing people, so having an affinity for working with others is an important trait.  Molly Graham, the Chief Operating Officer at Lambda School who also held senior management roles at at Google, Facebook and several other startup tech firms, says that “True management is the act of making the people around you better.”

In a recent interview, Molly commented, “When I ask you, ‘What do you love doing?’ a great answer is ‘I love investing in people and I love making them better, into the best versions of themselves.’ If that really brings you joy, great — being a manager is one of the most powerful and high-leverage jobs inside of organizations. But if the answer is no, then I’d strongly encourage you to not be a manager.”

As you consider pursuing a management job, do a gut check on your level of interest in working with people.  My personal rule of thumb when considering any new opportunity is to ask myself “does the thought of doing this leave me with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach?”.  If my answer is yes, I think carefully before proceeding.  It doesn’t mean I can’t do it, but it signals that I may find it unpleasant and will try to avoid it – not a good choice for a manager.  

If the thought of providing feedback, coaching, and being in constant contact with people fills you with anxiety, it might mean you should consider a different career path.  But it could also mean that you’ll have to learn new skills, concentrate harder, and stretch yourself out of your comfort zone.

Assessing Your Personality

In addition to assessing your interests, you should also consider your personality traits.  Your personality traits will influence your management style and how you interact with your team, peers, and stakeholders. By becoming more self-aware, you can identify areas for personal development and begin to anticipate how to respond to difficult situations.

There are several tests available that can give you feedback and insight into areas like how you relate to others, how others perceive you, how you make decisions, what types of people you might work well with, and what types you might conflict with.

Over the years I have taken some of the commonly used tests, like Myers-Briggs, DiSC, 360 Profilor, and Strengths Finder.  There are also different versions of Emotional Intelligence tests.  Free versions of many of these tests are available online.  Your company may also have preferred versions, where the results are reviewed with you by trained facilitators.    

My suggestion is to use tests like these as guides, not prescriptions.  There are no right answers, but they can give you additional information about how you behave that can be useful in identifying areas for personal development. 

For example, if you have a very outgoing personality and usually express your opinions in a forceful manner, you could unintentionally intimidate some employees and cause them to avoid voicing their opinions.  Being aware of this possibility can give you the insight you need to learn new behaviors that will help ensure open communication within your team.

Assessing Your Skills

The third part of your self-assessment should be to evaluate your level of proficiency in the skills a manager needs to be successful.  To help you do this, I created a self-assessment template that lists 24 skills that most managers will need.  You can download the template here.

I suggest that you review the list of skills and assess yourself using a 4 point scale, as follows:

You can learn about each of these skills through reading or taking courses.  But “book learning” is only part of the equation.  Gaining proficiency requires practice.  And while the list may appear intimidating, there are three things to consider. 

• First, you don’t need to be good at all of these skills when you start your first management job.  
  
• Second, some of these skills you will learn on the job.  Most experienced managers, me included, will tell you that we continue to learn aspects and perfect these skills throughout our careers.  
  
• Third, you can begin to learn and practice many of these skills before you take a management role. 

Which takes us to step #3.

Step #3 – Start Practicing the Skills

As noted above, many of the skills you will need to succeed in a management role can be learned and practiced before you take the job.  In fact, being able to demonstrate ability in these areas will probably help you get your first management job.  And, honestly, these skills will also help you perform better in your current role.

Look through the list of skills and your self-assessment, paying attention to the ones where you assessed yourself a 1 (No knowledge) or 2 (Aware). These are areas where you could begin to learn and practice right away.

Here are some actionable ideas to get you started:

• Skill: Communication – Being able to communicate effectively is one of the most important skills any person, manager or not, can possess. (It is also an area where I think we always have more to learn!). The broad term “communication” covers several skill areas – speaking, writing, developing visual presentations, and even thinking clearly. To get started, see the article “Six Questions That Will Improve Your Communication Skills” and download the Message Triangle template. You can also check out the Manager Resources page for other suggestions.
  
  
• Skill: Building relationships and trust – You don’t need to wait until you have people reporting to you to develop this skill. As a manager, you will need to develop strong relationships with your peers as well as your team members. Start working on your relationships with your peers. For more information, see the article “Forget Networking – Build Relationships Instead”.
  
  
• Skill: Defining objectives – You have a job to do. You have problems to solve and opportunities to capture. But do you have clear objectives to guide your work? As we approach the end of the year, it’s time to start thinking about your objectives for the coming year. Learn and practice the technique of writing SMART objectives. See the article “Creating SMART Objectives” for a brief tutorial and a SMART Objectives template to help you get started.
  
  
• Skill: Planning – You may not be leading a team yet, but you have results you are expected to deliver. Creating plans to translate your objectives into action is something you can do today. For a broad view of the topic, look at “Planning for the ‘Next Normal'”, the first article in my recent series on planning for uncertain times. To get straight to the details, see “Planning Framework Phase 4: Developing a Plan” and “Planning Framework Phase 4: Refining Your Plan”. Both articles have useful templates.

Conclusion

You can start preparing for your first management job today. By understanding more about management roles, doing a thorough and thoughtful self-assessment, and beginning to develop skills you’ll need as a manager, you set yourself up for success – not just in landing the job, but in being a successful manager.

In the next article, I’ll focus on the opportunities and challenges that confront new managers as they begin their first jobs. I’ve been interviewing several successful managers I’ve worked with to collect their insights and suggestions. I look forward to sharing those with you.

Until then…

To your success,

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