The 8-Point Leadership Checklist to Become a New Manager

Every Company Has a Leadership Checklist to Become a New Manager
The list to become a new manager is either implicit or explicit, but it exists.  If you dream of a role in leadership, your first step will probably be as a new manager.  To turn your leadership aspirations into reality, you should spend some time considering what it will take to successfully lead others.

Are You Ready to Lead Others?
Are you mentally ready to shift your success from being dependent upon your own contribution to being dependent upon the success of your team?

What the Best Leaders Do — A Leadership Checklist to Become a New Manager
We know form people manager assessment center data that the best new managers demonstrate a host of leadership personality traits that mark them as eminently capable of inspiring others to follow them. Why don’t you check yourself against this leadership list? Then where you are lacking, figure out what you can do to strengthen each weakness.

Great leaders, and therefore great new managers, are:

1. Self-Aware
   Great leaders are self-aware.  They know where they are strong, where they are weak, and where they need to improve.
2. Exceptional Communicators
   Effective leaders have excellent interpersonal skills and are able to effectively communicate with all levels of employees and other stakeholders.
3. Genuine
   Strong leaders don’t try to pretend to be something they are not. They value integrity above all. They understand there are no shortcuts — that honesty and trust are not commodities to be trifled with.
4. Resilient
   Top tier leaders are able to withstand the constant change and associated performance pressure that comes with leading others and with the fast pace of today’s business environment.
5. Flexible
   We know from change management consulting best practices that the best leaders are responsive to change and able to adjust as needed to adapt to important market shifts.
6. Caring
   The best leaders have a sincere interest in helping their employees grow and succeed. They are emotionally intelligent and committed to providing individual learning opportunities and coaching for growth.
7. Inspiring
   Great leaders have an ability to communicate their passion and commitment in a way that inspires others to engage wholeheartedly in the challenge at hand.
8. Future-focused
   Rather than paying attention only to day-to-day tactics, effective leaders know how to build a big picture strategy for success and how to implement it. They look toward a business that can be sustained for the long-term and are able to keep their “eyes on the prize” and adjust as needed to stay the course.

How Do Your Leaders Compare?
How do you compare against this leadership checklist to become a new manager? It’s a pretty demanding list of leadership qualifications to be sure. But if you start slow, you can progress.

The Bottom Line
To get started, take on a small leadership role — volunteer to run a small project in your community or at work. See how you like managing others and see how that role likes you.

If you want to learn more about creating high performance managers, download The Six Management Best Practices that Make the Difference Between Effective and Extraordinary