Transitioning from a successful individual contributor into a supervisory or manager position is fraught with concerns, challenges, and worries.
As I wrote in the previous blog post, Why New Leaders Fail to Make the Transition from Individual Contributor, nearly two-thirds of all new supervisors and managers fail to make an effective transition from being an individual contributor to their new leadership roles.
That is both ridiculous and unfortunate. For both the organizations promoting excellent individual contributors into supervisor, manager, and team leader roles – and for these exceptional employees!
There is no doubt that transitioning from a successful individual contributor role into a supervisory or manager position is fraught with concerns, challenges, and worries.
Making this transition comes with high risks of failure, personal dissatisfaction, and team disenchantment or disengagement.
Way too often, many first-time supervisors are thrown into the deep end of the pool, with little guidance or direction, and with little or no formal training in leadership skills. They are expected to achieve results through others but often lack the requisite skills in motivation, engagement, feedback, and development.
Also, numerous transition traps can befall new supervisors and managers. See the video Transition Traps That Derail First-Time Managers and Leaders on my YouTube channel for details on ten of the most common pitfalls you will encounter.
Going from Individual Contributor to Leading Others
Managing and motivating yourself as an individual contributor differs greatly from managing and motivating other team members. As such, you need a leadership development program specifically tailored to your new responsibilities, challenges, difficulties, and concerns.
New mid-level leaders can only be effective when given optimal development and training opportunities that enable them to lead for results, lead diverse groups of people, lead the development of their people, and lead their own development and growth.
Receiving training in only one or two of these areas causes more harm than good. It will also cause the organization’s strategies to collapse and fail from poor execution, dismal commitment and buy-in from frontline staff, and a lack of innovative solutions when unexpected hurdles and obstacles are encountered. After all, mid-level leaders are the glue between strategy and execution.
The Right Transition Solution for New Managers and Leaders
To make an effective transition into a new management or leadership position, you need leadership education, not a training program. And you need a program that supports you for several months, not a one-time training event.
Unfortunately, almost all leadership training programs have one inherent flaw – participants do not get to speak or interact with their trainer after the program concludes. So they have no one to answer their questions. No one to bounce ideas off. And no one to help them assess how well they are implementing and applying the skills and tools they were taught. 
Well, I have fixed that. A key component of my 8-part online leadership education program, called The Art of Great Leadership, includes 24 months of small-group coaching sessions. These 60-90-minute coaching sessions are all recorded, in case you cannot attend a session or if you want to review a discussion.
I also provide individual coaching at a reduced rate for participants in my digital and virtual leadership development programs. Leadership education is a journey, and I will accompany you on your leadership on that journey for as long as you want.
My goal is simple: to help you improve your current skills as a good manager or leader. And to help you develop these skills so you can become a great leader. A leader who is admired. A leader who is trusted. A leader who people look to for motivation, coaching, and direction.
If this sounds interesting, let’s talk. Let’s discuss your needs, challenges, opportunities, and desires for leadership development.
Here’s a link to my calendar appointment program. Please select a day and time that is most convenient for you. Together we can make sure The Art of Great Leadership program covers everything you need to develop from a good manager into a great leader.
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