Advice for a First-Time People Leader

A former colleague recently reached out to me to share some great news — he had been promoted to a “people leader” for the first time in his career. For years, he’s been building his leadership skills and demonstrating a passion for connecting with others, but the right opportunity to take on a formal, organizational role had not come along. His excitement was palpable through his words and intonation, but the most telling indicator of all was his desire to professionally develop. He asked me: 

I started to send him a couple of quick ideas via text, but as I started to type it became clear that I needed to pause and reflect. To add pressure to the moment, I imagined how I would feel giving career advice to one of my daughters in a similar situation. 

The Work of Leadership Is Human-Centered

The list below is exactly what I sent my friend, and it represents years of experience as well as heartfelt beliefs. The work of leadership is human-centered, full stop. Great management is centered on the task; great leadership is centered on the other person. You need both to succeed, yet those domains require different (yet related) skill sets.

If there’s one over-arching principle, I believe it is this:

When I trust my leader, I am more committed, more engaged and more productive. When my leader demonstrates empathy for me, I pay that forward with others around me. Trust and empathy are multipliers. When you experience trust and empathy from others, you are more likely to radiate trust and empathy to others. The social science research on normative social influence is clear. Leaders exert the strongest, single influence on organizational behavior and culture. Leaders set the norms, as they signal what’s most important through their individual and collective behaviors. And like most of life’s important lessons — those behaviors tend to be simple and hard all at the same time. 

Being a leader is more important than ever. We live in a world that for reasons that still perplex me, attempts to push us apart, not pull us together. As generative AI continues to accelerate, our human connections will be more important than ever. Being with people we trust and care about is not for superficial “feel good” reasons — it’s essential to being human. Humans as a species are social creatures and we are wired to connect. 

Related Article: Leadership Comes in Many Forms

10 Tips for Leading Others

Here’s my “Top 10” list for leading others, and I hope at least one of these ideas speaks to you.

• Be you, completely you.
• Express gratitude daily.
• Be vulnerable, share your struggles and failures.
• Smile and look people in the eye, especially when listening.
• Tell people why you admire them.
• Be as clear and uncomplicated in your guidance as possible.
• Solicit broad input and particularly seek to understand opinions that are different from yours.
• Be explicit that family is more important than work.
• Lift others up.
• Connect to business leaders to help your team deliver value.

If you’re a first-time people leader, lean in with an open mind and a big heart. Adopt a growth mindset and be willing to experiment, expect to make mistakes and most of all learn from others, including those whom you lead.

Additional Perspective

Geoff Balzano — Founder, Geoff Balzano Leadership Coaching

Three Hypotheses Every New People Leader Should Test

One of the most important things you can do as a new leader is build trust with your team. Here are three hypotheses that you can test that should help you discover the best formula for building a trusting relationship with your team.

I don’t need to have all the answers.

As an individual contributor, you were praised for finding answers. As a new people leader, you need to start relying on others for answers. The next time a team member comes to you for an answer, instead of giving it to them or acting like you know something that you aren’t sure of, ask them what they think the answer is or how they would solve it. In most cases, this approach will save you time while building your team member’s confidence and self-reliance.

I can be close to my team members.

Many people leaders feel they need to be “all business” with their team. Unfortunately, this approach can leave them feeling like you only care about their work output. The next time you have a 1:1 meeting with one of your team members, spend more time asking them about their life outside of work. Ask them about their passions and deeper motivations for working. If they are slow to share, first spend time talking about your life outside of work.

I can share my true feelings.

There will be times when you and your team face difficult circumstances. There may be a reorganization, or a decision to move investment away from your team. New leaders sometimes feel that they need to “toe the company line” when talking to their team even when they too are upset by a decision made higher in the organization. The next time you are faced with this circumstance, try showing your true feelings with the team while also helping them understand why the decision was made.

The transition to a first-time people leader is one that may not come naturally to you. I’d encourage you to experiment with approaches that may not seem natural, but they may lead to greater trust and improved results for your team.

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