23 Shocking Truths New Managers Learned On The Job

SHOCKING23
Truths New Managers Learned
ON THE JOB

http://www.hubspot.com/jobs/move-on-up-blog/new-manager-advice
Meet Dwight K. Schrute.

ü  Top salesman

ü  Top salesman
ü  Loyal employee

ü  Top salesman
ü  Loyal employee
ü  Dreams of being manager

But once he was promoted …
it was a disaster.

Dwight jokes aside, becoming
a first-time manager is a hefty
responsibility.

So we spoke with 8 new managers to
find out what
shocked them their first
year on the job.

Turns out your first few months
as manager can be ________.

lonely

tough

confusing

Whether you’re an aspiring manager
or in your first management role,
these folks have some insight for you.

Angie O’Dowd
Manager,
Channel Marketing

Becoming a manager
makes you feel like you're
trying to be a hip parent.
“

You want to be seen as
professional, but also
approachable.
“

An authority, but not
threatening.
“

Trusted, but not someone
you would gossip with.
“

These efforts can sometimes
be at odds, and leaves you in
a similar middle ground that I
imagine parents of high school
students live in.
“

Jeff Love
Manager,
Customer Success

Becoming a manager
requires you to hone your
question-asking skills … a lot.
“

Coming from a role where I
asked pointed questions to
customers all day, I figured I’d
have no problem with this …
“

But uncovering truths, issues,
misconceptions, and things lying
beneath the surface requires 2-3x
more questions for employees
than it did customers.
“

… And they have to be good
questions, otherwise your direct
report may feel interrogated.
“

Rachel Sprung
Manager,
Customer Demand

Before becoming manager, I had
been mentoring new marketers for
a few years. I figured management
will be just like that mentorship …
with just a bit more responsibility.
“

… boy was I wrong. Managing
is much harder than it seems.
“

You’re suddenly given
tremendous responsibility to
guide and develop someone in
their career.
“

You have to make decisions
quickly. You have to protect
your team from problems that
rise.
“

You have to develop team
strategy while also guiding
your reports to make the right
decisions.
“

… All while understanding the
balance among delegating,
doing your own work, recruiting,
and spending the right time on
long-term planning.
“

Greg Brown
Manager,
Sales

As an individual contributor, I
thought I had a good idea of the
responsibilities and day to day
duties that a sales manager has.
In retrospect, I only saw the tip
of the iceberg.
“

There are a few shocking truths that
stood out to me:

1.  Time management: You lose
pretty much all control of your
calendar almost instantly.
“

2.  Developing your team takes
time: There is no over night fix.
So you need to trust that you are
focusing on the right inputs to
get the right outcome over time.
“

3.  There’s a ton of back-office
work that no one ever sees: For
example, contests don’t just
happen. The manager has to
spend a time not only coming up
with the idea but then figuring
out how to track and measure.
“

4.  There is no "ramp" time as a
manager: Your direct reports
expect you to perform at a high-
level immediately, which is
strange because most new sales
reps have a "ramp time" where
the expectations are much less.
“

Emma Brudner
Section Editor,
HubSpot Sales Blog

It's one thing to read the statement
"different people respond to
different management styles" and
nod approvingly. It's another thing
entirely to actually live this credo.
“

Tailoring your personal
management style and preferences
to the people you manage is way
harder than I would have ever
guessed, and requires a lot of self-
awareness and self-reflection.
“

I need to constantly remind myself
that the way I like to be managed is
not the way people who report to
me necessarily like to be managed.
“

Sometimes giving people what they
want requires me to say or do
something that I would never want
my manager to say or do with me.
This can sometimes make you feel
as if you have split personality
disorder!
“

Irina Rosenbilt
Manager,
Partner Services

Managing people is not intuitive.
Situational leadership makes
perfect sense in theory, however
when faced with reality it is often
very difficult to assert whether you
should be directive or supportive,
guarding or encouraging.
“

Attempting to balance for the direct
report, your team, the greater team,
the company, and oftentimes your
own performance can be an
extremely difficult assessment of
how much I’m risking.
“

If I let them fail, will this have a
minor or major impact on the
business? If I basically do it for
them, will I stunt their development?
“

Bill Goodrich
Tech Lead,
Enginerering

When I became a manager I
thought that I needed to have all
the answers and be able to solve
all issues. A sort of hero and even
imposter syndrome can set in.
“

It took awhile to understand that
there are a lot of grey areas and it
is okay not to have all those
answers by myself.
“

Fortunately, there are a lot of great
resources at my disposal such as
my peers, manager, and HubSpot
training, that I rely on more heavily
now than I did at the beginning of
my time as a manager.
“

Ginny Soskey
Manager,
Content Marketing Strategy

I had no freaking clue how hard it
would be to know how well you're
doing your job. As an individual
contributor, you can look to a
number of reports and your own
output to gauge your effectiveness
and adjust yourself accordingly.
“

When you're managing people, one
passing comment from your reports
or your manager could make your
day ... or make you feel like you've
got a lot of work to do.
“

Plus, because managing involves
mastering lots of soft skills and
demonstrating a record of success,
it takes a while before you can see
progress and identify other areas to
work on.
“

At first, management can be a
bit overwhelming.

But being a manager can also
feel ___________.

feel ___________.
rewarding

feel ___________.
empowering

feel ___________.
fullfilling

Through management
training at HubSpot, our
new managers were
reminded that…

You’re becoming a manager
because someone thought
you’d be great at it.
1

You can keep learning from
those around you – even as
a manager, never stop
learning.
2

It’s okay to make mistakes
– so long as you learn from
them. No one expects you to
be perfect.
3

Want more insights that can help you
move on up in your career?

Want more insights that can help you
move on up in your career?
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23 Shocking Truths New Managers Learned On The Job

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