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Moving from mid-level management into an executive leadership role often requires major shifts in one’s perspective and approach. New C-suite executives sometimes struggle to leave behind the duties of their previous workload to focus on the responsibilities of their new position. Fortunately, there are effective ways for both rising leaders and their companies to help facilitate successful transitions when managers are promoted into C-level leadership positions.
Below, members of Forbes Coaches Council share common challenges middle managers face as they make the leap into executive leadership roles. Read on to learn about how managers can better enable themselves to overcome these challenges and succeed at the executive level and how their companies can best support them on this journey.
1. Navigating A Shifting Personal Definition Of Success
The first challenge for new leaders is to navigate the shift in their personal definition of success. At the senior leadership level, personal success often means being successful through others and rallying others through alliances and influence. Continuous personal growth develops the authentic self. Developing emotionally compelling and intellectually convincing communication is a priority. - Isabelle Claus Teixeira, Business and Human Development Consulting Pte Ltd
2. Receiving Less Feedback; Feeling Isolated
Moving into a leadership team can be a retreat from feedback. Fewer people are likely to share their truth with the newly promoted executive. There will be less dissent, less critique, fewer voices of challenge and fewer confidantes. With increased responsibility comes growing isolation and less light to illuminate your blind spots. Leadership needn’t be lonely. Coaching provides a perfect space for executives to work on resource development. - Duncan Skelton, Duncan Skelton Coaching Ltd
3. Moving Into A Visionary Mindset
One challenge a new executive may face is moving from a mindset of getting things done into a mindset of creating a vision and building alignment. As companies build their leadership pipeline, they should encourage managers to take chances and step forward with bold ideas and invite them to share different points of view and what-if scenarios—weighing the risks and benefits of ideas and rallying the team around the work they do. - Kathleen Shanley, Statice
4. Resetting Expectations
There should be substantive coaching at each major stage in the leadership life cycle. In the military, as you progress through major stages, there’s a process to send you back to school to continue developing your leadership skills. The jump from small teams to strategic-level management requires some resetting of expectations. You always want your leaders to be thinking about growth. - MK Palmore, Apogee Global RMS
5. Avoiding Imposter Syndrome
When moving from middle management to the executive level, leaders often face challenges related to imposter syndrome, effective leadership and team building. Imposter syndrome occurs when a person does not feel competent in their position. To alleviate this, companies can provide executives with a mentor or coach to help them develop effective leadership and team-building skills. - Julie Hruska, Powerful Leaders LLC.
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6. Finding Deeper Purpose And Alignment
As individuals ascend from middle management to executive leadership, they often grapple with a deeper quest for purpose and alignment. Ancient wisdom teaches us that true leadership stems from inner congruence. Companies can support this transition in leadership by fostering environments that encourage introspection, authenticity and holistic well-being. - Anna Yusim, MD, Yusim Psychiatry, Consulting & Executive Coaching
7. Shifting To A Strategic Mindset
The challenge is shifting from a day-to-day operational and technical mindset to a strategic one. Managers who were great at the core responsibilities of their previous jobs are expected to have a more helicopter-style, strategic approach and manage people, not only processes. Some of them are not ready or do not have the right skills developed. Companies can help by offering coaching, training and mentoring. - Dorota Klop-Sowinska, DoSo! Coaching
8. Practicing Patience
Middle managers fix a lot of problems on a daily basis. As a result, they tend to see results immediately. Executives have to adapt to working on longer-term projects, including system-level change. As a result, it’s important to help new executives be patient and not necessarily worry if they aren’t seeing results immediately. - Carol Geffner, CB Vision LLC.
9. Adopting A Holistic Organizational Perspective
The challenge for new executives is to transition from a team-centric to a holistic organizational perspective. The solution is to facilitate “organizational immersion weeks.” Rotate them through different departments so they can gain insights directly from various teams. This immersion approach fosters broadened perspectives, bridges departmental gaps and equips them to make decisions with the entire organization in mind. - Andre Shojaie, HumanLearn
10. Getting Out Of The ‘Weeds’
A key challenge when you make the shift to executive leader is getting out of the “weeds.” New executives need to stop managing daily activities, overseeing trivial tasks and putting out small fires. Succession planning is the most effective way to support this transition. Identify who will inherit the executive’s former role so they can delegate the operational tasks, lift up their gaze and lead strategically. - Loren Margolis, TLS Leaders
11. Evaluating People And Processes
In middle management, it’s easy to toe the company line—to do things how they have always been done. As managers move to the executive level, companies need to coach (or bring someone in to help coach) new executives to critically evaluate the people and processes in their departments. Then, they need to support the new executives in making the hard decisions. - Nick Leighton, Exactly Where You Want to Be
12. Learning To Take Calculated Risks
People moving from middle management to C-level leadership tend to be too risk-averse or too risky in their approach to growth, and either one can cause the team to lose trust. New executive-level leaders can help the company reach new heights if they are aware of their options, test assumptions and take shrewdly calculated risks based on solid information. - Alla Adam, Alla Adam Coaching
13. Having No Transition Plan
Having a detailed transition plan is one of the most effective ways to set a new executive up for success. Transition plans should include clear goals, key performance indicators and support resources. The best transition plans also include multiple mentors the new executive can lean on for additional support. - Franklin Buchanan, Post Up Careers
14. Embracing Strategic Thinking
When middle managers become executives, they need to step aside from a day-to-day approach to management and embrace long-term, strategic thinking. Leadership development programs can help foster this new mindset focused on the organization’s future. Companies can also designate experienced executive mentors to guide middle managers through this transition by drawing on their personal experience. - Michael Timmes, Insperity
15. Questioning Their Own Abilities
A big challenge for those moving into an executive-level role is the mindset shift it takes to step into this elevated role. Often, new leaders carry “imposter syndrome” with them into their new position and question their ability to navigate such a strategic role. Companies can support this transition with mentoring, investing in executive coaching and creating a space for feedback. - Julie Menden, Julie Menden, LLC.
