From Management to Leadership: 3 Tips to Strengthen Your Skills
From Management to Leadership: 3 Tips to Strengthen Your Skills If you’re in a management position at work, chances are it comes with more responsibilities. Being a manager is an opportunity to lead, but being a manager does not automatically make you a leader. What’s the difference and how can you move from one to the other? While managers do the basics, leaders seek connection. They are able to focus on the wellbeing of their employees and emphasize creating a team that doesn’t simply meet deadlines, but understands their purpose and works together to solve customer problems and create innovative solutions.
Ready to make the transition from manager to leader? Here are three things we suggest implementing:
1 Care About Your Employees on an Individual Level The average manager may work with a team, but the likelihood of them knowing their employees on a personal and individual level is slim to none. A leader steps up and understands the people they work with are crucial to success. The Harvard Business Review cites “company environment” as a significant factor in employee retention. Many feel that they will do any job as long as they’re working with the right people. Caring about your employees individually is a fast way to increase morale and keep your workers around longer. Simple ways to start taking this step include: • Implementing opportunities to share personal updates during weekly team meetings • Remembering the names of employees’ spouses, significant others, and children • Asking follow-up questions when a worker shares something about their life outside of work • Talk freely about things happening in your own personal life, where appropriate
2 Focus on Values, Not Tasks At the end of the day, projects get done one thing at a time. However, a leader does not bury their head in their team’s task list— instead, they focus on the values of the company and find solutions that best push their team to improve upon those values. Qualtrics cites data that shows when employees feel their values are matched by the values of their workplace, 70% are likely to recommend their place of employment as a great place to work and 72% state they feel their work gives them a personal sense of accomplishment. When you focus more on values, you’ll find: • Your team produces better work that makes customers happier • Employees will stretch themselves creatively • Effective solutions will be discovered because thinking outside the box is encouraged
3 Be Humble Enough to Accept Constructive Criticism A good leader is always looking for ways to improve. This means listening to constructive criticism when offered by those in positions of power—and, equally important, striving to improve based on feedback from those you lead. Doing so increases the trust between leaders and team members because the latter know their voices are being heard. Assembly asserts that constructive criticism and giving feedback is crucial to employee retention. Try the following ways of receiving feedback on your work: • Pass a box and some sticky notes around, and invite your employees to submit anonymous thoughts on how you can improve your leadership • During one-on-one meetings, ask how you can better guide your employees to reach their full potential • Let your team members know that you are always open to hearing their opinions and taking criticism with grace
If you found these tips helpful, consider Utah’s Executive Education Organizational Leadership Certificate. The strategies listed here are incredibly valuable and important, but a true leader requires a broader toolkit of skills to be successful. That’s why we’ve designed a certificate specifically to help maximize your potential and level up your leadership skills. The Organizational Leadership Certificate is comprised of six courses that will help you cross the gap from manager to leader and even increase your career prospects if a job transition is what you’re looking for. The classes included in the certificate are:
Leading High Performance Teams Identify research and expert-backed best practices you can implement immediately to boost your team’s productivity, communication, and morale.
Motivating Key Employees While Encouraging Innovation Learn how to involve others in achieving your goals and discover when incentives can increase innovation.
Workplace Mental Health and Resilient Leadership This class will highlight how mental health issues show up at work and how leaders, managers, and HR professionals can handle them.
Building a Dynamic Strategy for My Organization By examining the successes and failures of modern organizations, you will gain practical insights into how to assess the strengths of your current strategy, build a cohesive strategy, and forecast future opportunities and threats to your organization.
Creating and Maintaining a Positive Workplace Culture Explore the differences between workplace experiences that satisfy and those that engage and inspire.
Mindful Leadership and Communication Learn to mindfully evaluate your circumstances and your objectives so that you can effectively align your actions and your communication.
If you’re ready to learn new skills and make the jump from manager to leader, consider Utah’s Executive Education Organizational Leadership Certificate! With six classes designed to help you learn leadership skills and increase your career prospects, this certificate is perfect for anyone wanting to make a change in their workplace. Learn More Here
TAKE THE NEXT STEP (801) 587-7273 ExecEd@Utah.edu ExecEd.Utah.edu 1731 E Campus Center Drive Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Building, GARFF 4340 Salt Lake City, Utah 84112