What I learnt as a first time, young manager.

At 27 years old, I became the youngest National Service Manager at a New Zealand stock exchange listed technology company after 5 and a half years prior starting in the warehouse pressing a single button.

So, now you are a manager life will be easy, right?

You get more money and people to boss around, right?

Ah the misconceptions of being a manager, everyone wants to be one but few actually get the opportunity and when they do, even fewer excel and become respected, admired and most importantly – effective.

I was always the youngest in my roles. The youngest technician, the youngest team leader and the youngest National Manager. What did I learn?

Here are my top 20 lessons that I learnt the hard way from wonderful people that I worked for, with or through friends and family:

  1. The Buck Stops With You

Never again can you use excuses or pass the blame to another as all staff actions ultimately fall at your feet. If you have not trained them properly or there are not backup systems in place, their mistake is completely yours so get used to it and working on prevention. Internal conflicts? Forget human resources or previous managers it is now your responsibility to resolve.

  1. Be Friendly, Not Friends

    This was one of the hardest to change for me as someone that was friends with colleagues and would hang out after work with team members. When I was appointed a team leader, I still acted like a colleague and as a Manager I still felt like they were my colleagues. That said, as I was a new and young manager I needed to educate colleagues that I was no longer a buddy so I stopped going to lunch or hanging out after work. Lines were drawn and I worked hard to differentiate myself so that I was friendly and interested in their lives but separated my own personal world from them so it wouldn’t be gossip. As a leader or manager you become the role model. The wiser and more experienced you are this may not be an issue but for me it worked. I heard gossip but I was not part of it.
  2. Managing Up

It was a little late when I learnt this in my final 6 months in my role as Manager but it was the most unknown and yet valuable skill to possess.

Managing up is managing your direct report (or Manager). This can be as a technician to your team leader, or as a Manager to your CEO, it could also be as a CEO to the board of directors or the board of directors to the shareholders. Good effective communication on what it is you do, why you are doing it, keeping them in the loop and telling them the big picture and not the details and generally keeping them positive about you and your team results is a fantastic skill to have. Ultimately, your job is to make your manager look good, your team look good and keep everyone happy.

  1. We All Serve Someone

    As I mentioned above, we all report or serve someone. Either it is clients, colleagues, a leader, a Manager, a CEO, a board of directors or shareholders. Do not think you will ever reach the top or to a point where you have total control because that will never happen. The higher you get the more influential you can become in bigger decisions but you will forever have to follow and lead so get used to it.

  1. Say Goodbye to Leaving Early, Weekends and Public Holidays

Big misconception about Managers is that they don’t work as hard. They leave early, they arrive late, etc. This is challenging to change as employees will only see what they see first hand. In reality a good manager will be working away from the office on projects he cannot discuss in the office or doing research, networking, confidential business models or even staff reviews. A great manager will go home early but then work to midnight after a rest, a feed and some down time. They will be on the phone or checking emails from sunrise to sunset and 7 days a week. This is the secret that they won’t tell you or you won’t believe until you are in it. So the pay is good but in reality you will be paid as a student at McDonalds with the hourly rate it works out to be. Not to mention everyone thinking you arrive late and finish early. Junior managers will be visible in the office to prove how much they work but smart managers will be more effective managing outside of view.

  1. Money Grabbers are Poor Managers

Everyone wants more money. In fact, I have not met anyone that has said they have too much or just the right amount but in truth money does not make us happy, successful or proud of the work we accomplish. Good managers want to help the clients and the team achieve and GREAT managers want the clients, team and company to achieve. A successful company in turn makes everyone successful. A prosperous company can pay more wages, invest in extra training and provide an exciting, fun workplace.

Money grabbers don’t last, they are not seen or heard and the team will not support them. The higher managers see through them and ultimately they do not last long as they are found out.

  1. Managing is NOT Leadership

What? Yes, that is right. A good leader is not the same as a good manager. They possess different skills and are completely different in their purpose and approach. A leader, leads by example. A manager manages people effectively. Think of it like a good football captain that may or may not be the best on the team talent wise but is influential and has the highest work rate. The manager though won’t score the goals but will select the team, provides the coaches, facilities and best available captain. He sets the parameters for a successful squad but another will drive it on the pitch. Naturally I was a leader as I took pride in my work, influenced others and wanted to protect new staff but it took a long time before I felt I was management material.

  1. No Decision is Worse than a Bad Decision

Can you imagine being on a ship and the Captain didn’t know which way to go? Or worse, if the pilot said he was taking input from the passengers on how to land the plane? As a leader or manager you are the decision maker and responsible for the course of action so you need to be make sometimes-quick decisions based only on the information you have. You will not always make the right decision but it will always be better than no decision at all. In most cases, there is not even a bad decision just a long way round to getting to the outcome anyway so don’t be afraid of a bad decision. Stick to your guns, explain why you have come to that decision and then do it. Staff does not have to agree with your decision, they have to respect it and follow it. Back yourself and they will come around if your decisions work out well.

  1. Delegate or Die

If being a leader is going first and doing much of the work yourself then being a Manager is knowing you physically cannot do it all. It is the easiest mistake to make as a new Manager and one that I made frequently until I wised up and it became easier and the business more effective. As the Manager, your staff will look to you and want to give you input, advice and feedback but what the majority of requests end up being is more work for you. How many times do staff talk to a manager and ask “how can I help you, the team or the business?” and so it is that staff come in to the room asking “I need”, “I want”, “I think”, etc. All of those require your attention as the Manager so delegating tasks becomes essential. Spend too much time on 1 employee and you neglect the other 50. So you deflect and come up with ways for them to help themselves or provide solutions and not just problems. This takes time but is the only way to be successful in your position. Managers that do not delegate will break down, lose sleep and not actually help develop their staff as they try and do everything themselves. It looks good from a far but really they are showing that they feel the team cannot perform it correctly.

  1. Nobody Understands What You Do or Where You Are

    People that have never been a manager have some interesting and hilarious comments to make on the role, which always make me smile, but the truth is only people that have experience in the position can truly comment. Imagine football players saying how easy it is to be a referee or the irony of a sports commentator saying he would have done a bicycle kick. Yeah, right! Managers eat together, stick together and stay in their ivory towers because they can relate to each other. The idea that we have no managers would basically end in a lot of people being out of work. As an employee you focus on your daily tasks but as a Manager you are responsible for a million dollar business and the lives of your staff. Where you are is not important as Managers should be on the move meeting suppliers and speaking to other branches. What you actually do is going to be seen as lunches, long coffees and phone calls but all of those will involve work 100% and just because you are not in the office it does not mean you are not working.
  2. You come Last

If you are middle management like I was you will know that your direct report and below reports are your priority and that means shielding the team while taking the crap coming down. The only way is to get an umbrella and remind yourself that a good manager is selfless and will not get the gratitude because if he is doing his job correctly, nobody will even know.

  1. Dress for Respect

As an employee, I wore ripped jeans and never shaved. When I was appointed a Team Leader that all changed as my manager informed me that I was to look professional and to be honest it was good advice. If you look smart and different than the other staff then you will be treated with a little more seriousness and respect by both clients and colleagues.

  1. Never Forget Where You Came From

Don’t lose sight of how you got your position, who helped you and whom gave you the role. Be gracious and take the role with dignity, deflecting any signs of jealousy or resentment. Remind yourself monthly, weekly or daily what it was like in the entry level position and what you would have liked to see in a Manager.

  1. You are Never Too Big for the Small Tasks

When I was National Manager, I made coffee and took out the rubbish. Sure, I also made big decisions and hired staff but if something needs to be done and everyone is busy (or you just have a free moment) then do whatever needs to be done, roll up your sleeves and get on with it. Just don’t do it for a thank you or to look good, do it because it just needs to be done.

  1. Run Towards Conflict, Not Away From It

Young managers that have been promoted past more experienced workers like in my case tend to feel uneasy about conflict amongst employees. For some time, I used to struggle being honest and critical in my private discussions with staff that previously trained me and had more years on the clock than I did. This probably made me appear weak and I worked hard over a 12 month period to tackle conflict to all staff, especially the hard conversations with ones that I liked or admired. Conflict is tricky but I learnt that even the smallest issues need to be addressed quickly, nipped in the bud and followed up to ensure they do not grow in to festering thorny roses.

  1. Surprise Reward

I know it sounds a little strange but it works. As a team leader I used to reward the team for no reason in the middle of the month, occasionally. When they hit their target though I didn’t. They got their contract bonus and a well done but the surprise reward was more of a unexpected treat which tried to ensure that they knew I appreciated them but didn’t expect it every time they hit a target. You do not want a workforce that expects Christmas bonuses or treats unless contractually obliged as this sets the company up to fail if they have a bad year.

  1. Be honest even when times are tough.

My team has seen me stressed, angry and close to tears. In times when the business was not doing well and we went through divisions closing or redundancies I would have to communicate this to team and my approach was truthful, frank and human. Yes, I would struggle sometimes but that was also how much I cared about each member of the team. Never did I lie to my team but I had to occasionally not answer or deflect if it was confidential.

  1. Create Learners, Winners and Trainers

A great leader and manager will find a way to get the team to become self sufficient in their learning, competitiveness and helping up skill each other.

  1. Apologize

I have made mistakes and what was challenging was admitting them publicly to my team but I am also glad that I did as it showed I was human and by accepting them I could move on and make sure they were never repeated.

  1. Know When to Self Promote

As a manger you need to promote your team members, future staff to take your role and make sure your direct report looks good but if you do not find the appropriate times to self promote then you will be seen as expendable or replaceable. Good promotion hurts nobody; it just reinforces your value to the company. Bad promotion hurts others by taking claim as an individual when it was a team accomplishment. Know and understand the difference.

What have you learnt as a manager or from watching your manager?

Finally, can I just add a huge thank you to

Doug Casement, Paul Radley, Andrew Howard, Alan Reelick, Michael Blaine, Rick Webb, Paul Johnston, Jamie Barton, Tony Gilbert, Guy Lorigan and all of my colleagues that I have learnt from in my professional journey. Sorry If I have forgotten anyone as I have learnt from so many people.

P.S This article has not been proof read so please keep spelling and grammar mistakes to yourself :) Just kidding..

Written by Liam Lorigan

Managing Director of Lorigan Solutions

Founder of networking group My Business Story