Page 12 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

Preface ix

ment head, unit director, and plant or general manager. The book is also writ-
ten for managers and leaders who are moving up in the government, educa-
tion, or nonprofit sector with responsibilities, such as school principals,
superintendents, or program or executive directors. The processes for those
who assume new leadership responsibilities are similar even if the settings are
not. This book is also helpful for more experienced leaders and executives, who
can use it as a resource to guide and coach their managers and administrators
as they assume new responsibilities. Experienced leaders will also find this book
helpful as a reminder of what to do as they change roles and assignments.
When you move up, you are really making two transitions simultaneously.
Aspects of the first transition become obvious very quickly when you are
appointed or promoted to a new role. These are the organizational and lead-
ership aspects of moving into a new position. You must quickly establish your-
self in your new assignment and begin to work toward achieving meaningful
impact on your organization. On the surface, the obstacles and challenges may
or may not be obvious. Sometimes, the challenges may not seem especially
difficult or the hurdles particularly formidable. However, the barriers to suc-
cess are ever present. There is much to do and much to plan for. This is a crit-
ical phase in your development as a leader, and your ability to perform can
make or break your career.
As you move up, you also have a second transition to make, a very personal
one. In their euphoria about getting the promotion, few leaders adequately plan
for the inevitable changes in their personal lives. In the last chapter we will
address the important interplay between work, personal, and home life. When
you take on a new leadership role, there is almost always a ripple effect on other
key aspects of your life. The more time, attention, and emotional engagement
you provide at work, the greater the likelihood that there is less of you to give
at home, to those you love. You will be less available to friends, and you will
have less free time and attention to give to your community, religious endeav-
ors, and even your personal health and fitness. Effectively managing this inter-
play between key elements of your life makes up the final section of this book.
In Just Promoted! we suggest effective, practical ways for you to succeed at
work and at home as you develop as a leader and specifically as you manage
the first year in each of your new leadership roles. This book is not a quick fix.
It is not a treatise on management or leadership philosophy; nor is it a single
set or cluster of isolated skills. Rather, it teaches from our own and from oth-
ers’ successes and errors when taking on new leadership responsibility.