Developing Leadership Skills in Emerging Leaders

I'm delighted to share my newest piece for Newsweek-out today-on how to successfully navigate the transition from individual contributor to people leader. Too often, stellar individual contributors are promoted into people leadership roles without adequate training, development, support, or recognition that the skills that make people talented individual contributors are distinct from those that make them successful people leaders. Here, I share high-impact strategies that dramatically accelerate success for new people leaders: 🎯Recognize that you're moving into a new professional role and identity. Understanding the differences between successful individual contributor and people leadership skills is an important first step, as is learning to work on a more strategic versus tactical level. 🎯Develop your leadership values, voice, and vision. Understanding what guides you as a leader will help you better prioritize the day-to-day actions and ways of working that help you embody the kind of leader you aspire to be. 🎯Prioritize relationship building within and beyond your team. New people leaders often make the mistake of prioritizing day-to-day work over building relationships. But relationship building and creating alignment is central to success as a leader. 🎯Be strategic about how you and your team invest your time, energy, and resources. Learning to move from time management to priority management is a high-impact investment. Setting aside a weekly planning meeting to prioritize your and your team's work and defaulting to 85% rather than 100% effort will help you and your team deliver the highest impact results while protecting against burnout. 🎯Invest in and prioritize your own professional development and growth. Carving out regular time to deepen your skills as a people leader on an on-going basis will help you continue to develop your leadership skills and support your success as you grow into your new role. Recognizing that your own ongoing professional development is foundational to your success rather than taking a when-I-can-squeeze-it-in approach is critical. And, whether you're feeling confident, excited, overwhelmed, uncertain, anxious, or any of the other very common and normal mix of emotions, don't forget to make time to celebrate this significant career milestone! #LeadershipDevelopment #LeadershipCoaching #NewManager #NewManagers #WorkSmarterNotHarder #CareerAdvice

Experience matters in leadership, here's what new leaders can do. Feeling like an imposter in your leadership role? That nagging doubt that whispers, "You don't have enough experience for this," can be paralyzing. Many emerging leaders struggle with this: 😟 Doubting their decisions 😰 Hesitating to take actions 😔 Feeling inadequate compared to seasoned peers You've probably tried to compensate by avoiding risks, working longer hours, or pretending to know everything. But these strategies often fall short. While experience matters, it's not the only path to effective leadership. ------Thrive with these powerful practices----- 🔶 Be a Learning Sponge: Treat interactions as a learning opportunities. 🔶 Embrace Experimentation: Test approaches and learn from both successes and failures. 🔶 Practice Honesty: Admit when you're wrong or don't know something. 🔶 Leverage Collective Wisdom: Build a network of mentors and diverse perspectives. 🔶 Reflect and Adapt: Regularly assess your style and celebrate growth. -----A counterintuitive insight----- 🔷 Embrace your mistakes publicly. Openly acknowledging errors can strengthen leadership through transparency and growth. I've seen new leaders gain immense respect by: 🔹Admitting errors in team meetings 🔹Sharing lessons learned from missteps 🔹Encouraging team members to point out leadership blunders One CAUTION: Balance is key. ⚖ While embracing mistakes is powerful, the goal is to show growth, not incompetence. Aim for quality decision-making and thoughtful risk-taking. Your team doesn't expect perfection. They want a leader who's real, relatable, and committed to growth – but they also need to trust your capability to lead effectively. Leadership isn't about knowing everything; it's about leveraging what you know and being open to what you don't. Experienced leaders - which of these practices worked best for you?

Having worked with 10+ companies back at McKinsey, here's one thing I noticed that separates GOOD from GREAT: GOOD orgs: Top-notch executive leadership GREAT orgs: Top-notch executive leadership AND powerful middle management that can own and drive change The difference is unmistakable. The truth is, you can laterally hire executives to close talent gaps. But middle managers? The economics don't work. Too expensive. Too many positions. Too disruptive to culture to simply hire in. You MUST build this talent internally. McKinsey recently shared 5 habits to develop in your emerging leaders: 1️⃣ USE TIME PURPOSEFULLY In a world of infinite demands, how leaders allocate their limited hours determines everything → Create "tight but loose" calendars → Reserve 20% capacity for the unexpected → Focus ruthlessly on high-impact moments → Build strong support teams to multiply impact 2️⃣ PERFECT THE ART OF RECOVERY Burnout kills potential faster than any competitor— sustainable performance wins long-term. → Balance intense work with deliberate recovery → Prioritize nutrition, sleep, and stress management → Schedule recharging activities (non-negotiable) → Create boundaries that protect personal energy 3️⃣ ALWAYS BE LEARNING Today's expertise becomes tomorrow's obsolescence— continuous growth is non-negotiable. → Remain deeply open to diverse perspectives → Seek expertise far outside their domain → Create learning opportunities through connections → Stay humble about what they don't know 4️⃣ EMBRACE DATA & ANALYTICS Intuition scales poorly—data-driven decisions unlock performance beyond human limitations. → Track personal and team performance metrics → Leverage AI to improve operational decisions → Implement regular performance review cycles → Use wearable tech to optimize personal output 5️⃣ BE ADAPTABLE & RESILIENT Market shifts destroy rigid teams—adaptable leaders turn disruption into opportunity. → Listen to criticism while filtering extremes → Admit mistakes and take immediate action → Maintain composure under intense pressure → Build resilience through challenging experiences Which of these habits do you need to strengthen in your people? In yourself? ♻️ Find this valuable? Repost to help others. Follow me for posts on leadership, learning, and excellence. 📌 Want free PDFs of this and my top cheat sheets? You can find them here: https://lnkd.in/g2t-cU8P Hi 👋 I'm Vince, CEO of Sparkwise. I help orgs scale excellence at a fraction of the cost by automating live group learning that drives practice + applied skill building. Check out our topic library: https://lnkd.in/gKbXp_Av

Recently was asked by a CEO: How do I help my managers who are high potential (but likely overwhelmed) level-up quickly, when I’m also short on time myself? Don't jump to hiring exec coach, or recommend yet another leadership book. Do follow a more immediate + practical route... (1) Identify the 1 - 2 things you anticipate they’ll struggle with most. It'll differ for each person, and depend on role and experience, but you'll have a hunch. Examples: Getting too in the weeds of the work. Being too passive in an area they don’t feel they’re an expert. (2) Ask them to reflect at the end of each week and write a brief journal entry rating themselves on how they performed in those areas (scale 1 - 5), what they observed about themselves, what differed from their original expectations about the role... (3) During your weekly or bi-weekly 1:1 with them, discuss this reflection with them. Based on what they shared, can you point out or recommend things that they didn't think of? What areas are you noticing progress in? What should they try next time? In short: The greatest learning for your managers will come from: (1) Direct awareness about what to focus on. The tendency for new managers is to focus on 5 - 10 things instead of 1 -2. (2) Observing themselves on these areas. Change in behavior starts w/ observing behavior. Sure, yes, eventually, you can recommend a coach, book, or even a leadership improvement app like Canopy... But there's no replacement for helping a new manager build the practice of self-reflection 'n adjustment, self-reflection 'n adjustment, for themselves. #leadingleaders #leadershipdevelopment