Page 247 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

232 Just Promoted!

confidence buys time, which is what newly promoted leaders need to achieve
their agenda.

1. Prepare a written performance summary without being asked to do so. As
noted above, list your accomplishments, disappointments, strengths, and areas
for improvement. Send it to your boss without being requested to do so, and
schedule a meeting with him or her to discuss it. Show your initiative, inter-
est, and insight in your abilities, and describe how you are doing overall. You’ll
be helping your boss to help you. It is your responsibility to help your boss be
your coach, mentor, and sponsor.

2. At the six-month performance review meeting, be prepared with questions
for which you genuinely desire feedback. Again, help your boss to help you. Be
open to his or her ideas and suggestions. Ask specific questions for which you
genuinely desire feedback. General questions usually result in generalized
feedback. Demonstrate your ability to accept criticism if it is forthcoming.
Don’t be defensive. Listen, and try to understand. Learn from this experience.
Show your enthusiasm and pride in what you have accomplished. Thank your
boss for all the help, support, ideas, and feedback.

3. Selectively solicit input from direct reports, peers, and others in the organ-
ization. By asking for candid feedback, you create a potential reservoir of
insight and recommendations. It is okay to be vulnerable with others. In fact,
showing a limited amount of vulnerability can sometimes reveal a leader’s
humanity and can actually increase his or her credibility. In this way, leaders
are viewed as authentic and, therefore, believable. Another useful approach is
to reserve 15 minutes at the end of your direct reports’ performance reviews
to ask for ideas on how you can better help them and your organization in
general. If you have done a good job establishing rapport and open commu-
nication, you will typically receive a wealth of useful ideas.

4. Consider the following questions as a guide for introspection:

■ How do I feel about my job now?
■ How do I like the job of leader?
■ Am I underchallenged, or do I feel over my head?
■ Can I do the job the way I feel it should be done?