Welcome to the New Manager podcast.
I'm your host, Kim Nichol. Welcome.
I'm glad you're here and I hope you're doing well.
I have to say I am feeling so energized because last week I
facilitated 1/2 day team building session at a company
off site and the team I was working with was incredible.
And so much of the work we did was around talking through what
makes a great team. When we think about this team,
what are the qualities that we want to embody and practice and
what will we need in order to make that happen.
And one of the things that came up in that session was the
acknowledgement that people work differently, that people have
different styles of communicating, and how important
it is to remember that. Because when you want to build
trust and get things done, you might need to adapt for the
people or the specific person that you are working with.
And honestly, this is true not just for the people on your
team, but also when you think about the folks above you.
So when you think about managing up and how to do that
effectively, it's going to change depending on what you
know about that person. And so in the course of your
career, as you find yourself in different roles with different
teams, right? Like even if you are managing a
single team over the course of many years, the likelihood is
that the composition of that team will change, that some
people will leave, some people will come in.
And so the dynamic and how you work together, that will evolve
overtime. That's why it's so important to
remember to adapt your skills, to learn how to work with
different people and different styles of work.
Because if you want to work effectively, then it's not going
to look the same every single time.
And that's OK. The goal is not to, you know,
get it right every time or to be exactly the same with every
person. Instead, the goal is to develop
this ability to trust yourself, to know that you've got the
skills to listen, to perceive, to, you know, ask questions that
help you to understand. What's the real need here?
And that will require that you really step into that leadership
mindset, that manager mindset, and step out of the mindset that
so many of us get really good at when you are an individual
contributor, which is tell me what to do and I'll do it and
I'll execute and I will just make things happen, get things
done. There starts to be a shift in
the course of your career, especially as you rise into new
levels of managing and leading. So I wanted to, you know, kind
of share this perspective with you, especially if you feel
like, you know, there's someone or just a a particular person
that you work with that you feel really challenged by and you're
wondering, you know, how do I say this?
How do I communicate with them in a way that brings them on
board? Maybe there's someone you work
with and you feel like you're always coming up short, like
maybe you're just not a good enough manager or a leader for
them. You just feel very, very
challenged by them. That's a really normal thing.
I think it's not often discussed, but that it will
happen and the important thing is to come back to kind of those
foundational principles of what kind of leader do you want to
be? What are the skills that you're
going to bring into this situation?
What is the goal? What does success look like and
what are your options so that you can be really intentional in
choosing an approach, seeing what happens, and then adapting
as you go? So one of the things I want to
make sure that you know about is that I am teaching a new course.
It's on communication strategies for managers and we're starting
this week. You have until September 23rd to
enroll, but this is a course that is designed for new
managers. So when you find yourself either
newly managing a team or you're a first time manager and you
really want to learn some of those foundational skills to be
more effective. If you want to feel like a a
more authentic manager and leader and just feel a little
bit more calm everyday so you're not so stressed out and feeling
like you know you're scrambling, then this is going to be a good
course for you because we're going to walk you through some
of the most common communication circumstances you'll find.
And I'll help you to find some strategies that can work for you
and the specific situation and personalities that you're
working with every day. This is also a course that'll be
really good for experienced managers who want a fresh
perspective and ractical tools to make those tough situations
easier. We're going to identify what is
it about tough conversations that you specifically struggle
with so that we can then identify what is the strategy
that will help you with that tough situation.
So if you've been managing folks for a while, but you find
there's always this one thing that you really get hung up on,
let's address that and find a new approach so that you can get
better at this and have an easier time with it.
And then lastly, if you are an aspiring manager, you don't have
direct reports yet, but you want a head start on learning the
skills and communication strategies that will help you to
manage up to advance in your career, then this course is
going to be helpful for you. And one of the things I love
about this is because we get that cross pollination, you'll
get to meet people in different industries, in different
organizations. And so the way that you will
learn will be this really dynamic and really enriched way
of learning. You know, in conversation with
me and with these other folks, I do teach every class.
So you get to meet with me each week and bring the questions
that you have and bring the celebrations that you have.
And we'll start to get more clarity about what are your
strengths in communication and what are the things you want to
get better at so that you have access to that inherent
confidence. When you're not in the self
doubt and the second guessing, your sense of confidence and
purposefulness starts to come through a lot easier.
So this is a course that I'm excited to teach.
We are starting this week and if leadership development is part
of your plan this year, I can think of no better way to start
and no better skill set to develop than your communication
strategies in the way that you manage people.
I'm going to put a link to it in the show notes or go to my
website, chemical.com. You'll see it on the manager
page right up at the top. So that is what I wanted to
share with you today. I hope you have have a really
great week. I hope I see you on Tuesday in
class and if you have any questions, reach out and let me
know. Link to how to do that is right
in the show notes. All right, have a great week.
I will talk to you next time. When you're more effective at
work, you're happier in your life, and when you're happier in
your life, you're more effective at work.
I can help. Go to my website, kimnickel.com
and sign up for a coaching consult.
It can get better.