There are two turning points in a career where the mindset needs to change 180 degrees:
👉 from specialist to leader
👉 from leader to leader of leaders
It is often the first step, from specialist to manager, that is particularly difficult in the context of psychological coping, because in general the question of HOW to do something right, well, quickly, etc., has been in people’s heads since childhood. But that has to change now.
Perhaps the key question for the specialist is: HOW?
How to solve the problem, how to improve the process, how to achieve the result.
The key questions for a leader are: WHAT, WHEN, WHO?
Who is the right person to do this? Why do it at all? What direction do we take? Whether to do it at all or not?
It is this very simple change of your core questions that is one of the essential keys to avoid losing both – a good specialist and a good manager – by promoting a specialist to a manager.
A few examples from my practical life:
1. The best salesman was promoted to manager. He knew the ins and outs of every customer relationship and tried to continue at the same pace to be the best salesman himself and a role model for his staff. Of course, he kept the biggest and “difficult” customers for himself with various excuses. And the result, of course, was that he burned out, the team felt left out and sales results stung everyone. It was only when he refocused on supporting the team, seeing signs of burnout, that results and commitment started to increase.
2. IT specialist became team leader due to structural changes. Before, he was known as the “fixer of all”. When he became the manager, he still tried to know the answer to every employee’s question and of course proactively let the employee know without asking. Projects dragged on and people felt distrusted, absenteeism increased, commitment dropped, the manager worked 16 hours a day, etc.. The change of mindset and the rewording of the questions was the key key to move from a rescuer mindset to a strategic position. It took time, but after a few months the results started to change.
Many experienced managers also get trapped in the mindset of a specialist. This is not at all uncommon. I have met many managers who have been managers for years, but still spend their energy on detail, endless meetings and micromanagement. The result, of course, is fatigue for both the manager and the team and symptoms of burnout.
Leadership starts when you dare to let go of the how question. And letting go of anything always creates a grieving process of denial, bargaining, anger, sadness, depression, testing, setbacks and acceptances. For some these stages are quick, for others it takes months and support is needed. As always in grief.
So – are you a manager with a manager’s mindset or a top professional with a specialist’s mindset and a manager’s title? Or are you still in the denial phase? 🙂
