Take something you are very good at. You know it, your boss knows it, and you get excellent feedback from everyone, and great recognition for it. It becomes your signature strength.You are rewarded for your performance and get a promotion, with more responsibilities. A couple of years pass by.
All of a sudden, you find that the same signature strength that you were well appreciated for so far is starting to cause you trouble in your new role. At first, you are in total denial, thinking how could that possibly be? After all, didn’t everyone seem to like it and appreciate it until now? However, the more feedback you hear, the more obvious it becomes to you that indeed this is becoming a real problem.
What could be wrong here? Perhaps you are applying the same skill or strength you acquired earlier in your professional life to your next job or role without realizing that maybe the new role has different demands and requires you to do things differently. This happens to all of us. All it takes is an open mind to recognize and acknowledge the problem and a conscious effort to fix it.
Thankfully, with a few simple but effective steps, you can be on your way to a successful role transition:
- Step 1 - Start from scratch
- Analyze the expectations of the new role, especially the ways in which it is different from your previous role
- Think about what are the key success factors for this new role, and how they are different from your old job
- Step 2 - Have a conversation with your boss
- Leave your assumptions behind. Have an open conversation with your boss about your new role. Even if the boss hasn’t changed, your role has. So don’t assume his expectations remain the same. Ask and listen. Validate your own understanding.
- Step 3 -Talk to peers who have been there
- Talk to your peers who have been in the same roles before. Find out what they had to do different. Ask about what worked and didn’t work for them.
- Step 4 - Learn and practice new skills
- Pick 2 to 3 key skills you need to acquire or behavior changes you need to make to be successful in your new role, based on steps 1 through 3. This is important. Focus on 2 to 3 changes at a time, and not a laundry list of 10 things you want to do better. Once you meet your objectives, you can pick the next set of changes.
- Set yourself a goal and a timeline for acquiring the new skills and practicing the new behaviors.
- Step 5 - Track your progress:
- Get regular feedback from as many sources as you can (preferably 360 degree feedback) to see how you are doing and to make adjustments if necessary.
Easy enough right?
By following these 5 simple steps, you can avoid having today’s strength become tomorrow’s weakness, and you can continue to evolve as a leader.
