Studies Show That Most New Managers Are Winging It, And It’s Costing Companies
A first-time manager recently said that he was terrified in his new role. He had five direct reports, no experience, and was dropped into the role when his company grew too fast. He said he was basically winging it and hoping for the best.
Research shows this behavior is normal. Most new managers are just winging it. They’re taught to just copy the leaders they liked and avoid becoming like the ones they didn't. The only problem with this is that we are no longer in a day and age where employees will stick around for new managers’ mistakes. If you’re not developing people before they get into a leadership role, it may be costing your company more than you realize.
What Winging It Actually Costs
Picture the person on that manager’s team who is good at their job and has not learned anything new in fourteen months. Nobody is holding them back on purpose. Their manager simply doesn’t know how to develop anyone, because nobody ever developed them.
When we asked American workers in the
National Workplace Trends Study what separates the companies that keep their best people, eight in ten pointed to the same thing: the organizations that prioritize training and development are the ones that hold on to top talent.
So an untrained manager doesn’t just have a hard first year. They become the reason good people start looking elsewhere.
Leadership Development Doesn’t Happen By Accident
No executive decides to abandon new managers. They just get busy with fast growth, business changes, and putting out fires. So if leadership development is not on your schedule, it simply will not happen. You can have all the good intentions in the world to develop your people, but good intentions won’t make leadership training appear on your calendar. That takes intention.
And it’s a disservice if you leave them untrained. Because studies show it will cost you the 4 Ps of business success: Productivity, Profits, People, and Purpose.
The Part HR Knows That C-suite Misses
I'll tell you what I hear constantly from HR directors, almost word for word….
“Our C-suite doesn’t often budget for emerging leaders.”
Not “won’t.” Not “refuses.” Doesn’t often. Which usually means development gets funded for the people who already have big titles, and everybody below that line is expected to figure it out on their own time, on the job, using your customers and your employees as the practice run.
That’s an expensive way to train somebody, and a fast way to lose your best people who don’t want to stick around for the new manager to figure it out.
Build What We Call 'Relentless Mastery'
One thing I developed before I ever managed anyone was a trait I call Relentless Mastery. It’s #3 out of the 12 Bar Raiser™ traits, and it’s who you decide to be long before anyone hands you a title.
A Tolerator says “everybody’s winging it” and treats that as a finish line. A Bar Raiser™ says “I am not good enough at this yet” and treats that as a starting line. Becoming a great leader doesn’t happen overnight. It happens one leadership training at a time.
Tomorrow's Move: The Calendar Test
Open your calendar for the next 30 days and ask three questions.
- Where is the time? Find the actual blocks dedicated to developing the people you’ve promoted. Not the all-hands. Not the performance review. Development.
- Where is the money? If emerging leaders aren’t a line item, they aren’t a priority, no matter what gets said in the meeting.
- Who owns it? If the answer is “HR” and HR thinks the answer is “their manager,” then nobody owns it, and it will not happen.
If you’re the new manager reading this and none of that exists at your company, then you run the test on yourself. Block one hour a week and go get better at this on purpose.
SHARE THIS
If you have ever been told “don’t worry, everybody’s winging it” while you were responsible for real people, you already know how little comfort that is. Send this to a leader who can put development on an actual calendar, and let’s stop calling improvisation a leadership pipeline.
BOOK BETSY TO SPEAK!
Want your emerging leaders developed on purpose instead of by accident? Betsy delivers her Bar Raisers™ keynote to organizations ready to stop promoting people into the deep end. Check her availability here.
BRING BETSY IN TO TRAIN YOUR LEADERS AT EVERY LEVEL
Ready to put it on the calendar? Destination Workplace® builds the leadership development programs that turn promoted performers into Bar Raisers™, including the Bud-2-Boss emerging leader program. See the leadership development programs here.
About Betsy:
Betsy Allen-Manning is the wake-up call you didn't know you needed. She's a high-energy leadership keynote speaker and creator of the Bar Raisers™ Movement: a proprietary system redefining how organizations are approaching performance, leadership, and culture. Featured on FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, and TEDx, Betsy works with organizations across corporate, franchise, association, nonprofit, and government sectors. She's the lead researcher behind the National Workplace Trends Study, and delivers programs around her Bar Raisers™ and Leadership Mastery frameworks. She is the founder of Destination Workplace®, an award-winning leadership development firm in Dallas, Texas.
