There is a gap between being an employee and being a manager. The skills you need to be successful as an employee are not the same skills you need to lead other people. Yet being promoted to a management position is often a reward for being great at one’s job.

 

Many new leaders make the leap from being highly proficient and, therefore, very confident in their non-management roles to suddenly being responsible for the success of others. More often than not, this happens with no additional training or support. Think of it this way, before you became a (enter profession/job here) you had some sort of training, whether it was formal or on-the-job. In many cases, this training included two to four years of attending lectures, writing research papers and exams, all focused on preparing you to become a professional. Then suddenly, you’re promoted to a leadership position and a whole new set of skills is required. Likely, you didn’t go back to school two to four more years to learn those new skills required to be successful in this new role. If you’re lucky, your organization has a leadership development program in place— but many organizations don’t, so new managers are left to their own devices.

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In this book, we share the experiences and insights we have acquired about leadership. The things we have learned through: formal education, such as master’s degrees and post-graduate certificates in executive coaching; certifications, like Prosci change management and Emotional Intelligence; and on-the-job experiences and observations—have been pulled together in one place to support others to fill the gap and make the leap from being a great employee to becoming an effective leader.