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So you have decided to become a manager. You have taken the biggest step in your career to-date. You are no longer ‘one of the troops’, a ‘doer’. You have given up your ‘security blanket’ and there is no turning back.

Being a new manager can be painful and very stressful. You are now in charge and accountable for what your staff deliver. You are now going to be judged on your teams’ deliveries and results.

Research shows that good staff management has a direct positive impact on the company’s results. That means bad staff management has a direct negative impact on the company’s results.

One of the first things new managers discover is that their role is even more demanding than they had anticipated. They are surprised to learn that the skills and methods required for success as a member of staff and those required for success as a manager are very different and that there is a gap between their current capabilities and the requirements of the new position.

You are now highly visible in the organisation (or your part of it) and any mistakes you make are noticeable and potentially damaging. How and what you do in the first few days, weeks and months, will determine how individuals will perceive you in the future. With all this in mind you need to recognise that newness is not an excuse for lack of impact or respect.

You will have to have:

• the skills to get people to recognise (as well as value) your contribution

• get people working on your side as you put your plans into action

• exhibit the ‘right’ behaviours’, which compliment the department and company

In the first few weeks of your new role, you will need to make the maximum effort to succeed.

It is a period of intense action and learning and you may feel overwhelmed. You are on the edge of your seat all the time. You have to learn about the people, the product, the service, the organisation, the customers, the issues and the workloads in a very fast time and that is hard effort.

It will pay off, but it is not just about effort, it is also about which tasks to put your effort into.

You have to be out and about, listening, learning and responding.

You may be concerned about or afraid of upsetting the apple cart. You have to learn and keep your team’s service going at the same time.

Let me share my views on what great managers have:

1.    High levels of energy and drive

2.    Self-confidence to take calculated risks

3.    Understanding that everything you deliver has to have a money element associated with it

4.    High stretching but achievable goals

5.    Ability to get others to work with you and for you

6.    Control their own development, path and destiny

7.    Learning from their failures and mistakes

8.    A long term vision of the future

9.    A competitive urge

10.    Relevant, fruitful two-way relationships

Making that first impression is so important. It is crucial. The first days and months will make or break your career. Make a hash of it and your reputation will be trashed.

What’s your experience of being a Manger?