I get a lot of questions from people about what it takes to be a good general manager.
So I am going to write about this over the next few weeks on this blog.
General Management is very different than your last job
Stepping into a general manger role for the first time is a big deal because it is a very different job than you’ve had before.
I know a guy who is a new general manager and he thinks he is doing a good job. But if you talk to anyone around him, or above or below him, they are all frustrated with him, and they are worried he is not going to make it.
If you ask him, he admits there are challenges in his market and in his team, but he reports somewhat abruptly that it is all under control, and that he’s doing fine.
I actually see this quite regularly.
At the root of this is some combination of insecurity, fear, ego and pride. None are worth failing for, (nor do they get any better after failing!)
Never suffer in silence. Never fail alone
I feel like a broken record on this sometimes…
Get help. Don’t try this alone. Get a mentor or a coach.
Make sure you have someone helping you who cares about you and your career success, who has a lot of experience as a general manager.
You need someone to advise you how to do the parts of the job you don’t know how to do yet. You need someone to tell you what you don’t know you don’t know.
Learn fast
In your career, if you are in totally over your head, and you are scared, it does not mean that you are failing, it means that you are advancing!
But you need to get your bearings fast and start doing a competent job.
And nothing helps as much as getting help.
I was very lucky to have mentors, and I have never been shy about asking for help.
For example, as a new GM I went to my mentor to get advice for best practices on what to delegate vs. what to focus my personal time on, how to measure my staff, how to improve execution in sales and on product delivery, how to prioritize strategic partnerships and organic growth.
Before this my perspective on these things came from doing the work personally. What I wanted to learn was how great general managers add value when they have to worry about all of these things at the same time.
Don’t get bogged down
It’s easy to just wade in and start doing the job, and react to what comes along.
You’ll be asked to produce strategy documents and financial plans, to launch products, and talk to the media. But I find that most people who just dive in end up working at the wrong level.
They get too bogged down. They leave their organization waiting for big decisions. They don’t drive accountability. They fail to recognize duplicate efforts, communication issues, and chronic execution problems. The spend their time on tactics and fail to make strategic progress.
Here are the big things a General Manager needs to care about.
Number 1. Get a mentor or a coach. (don’t skip #1) (broken record)
Number 2. Split your thinking, and budget your time into the following areas:
- People
- Process
- Profit
- Communicating
.
As a general manager, you need to divide your attention across these categories and make sure that you:
1. Are connected to reality, and know what is working and not working
2. Establish clarity about the scope of your business and its advantage
3. Make clear assignments, measure and track accountability and recruit support from your team. (hint: have someone help you do this)
4. Have a prioritized plan to improve
5. Build your credibility with the Board, C-Level staff, external audiences and your employees.
6. Grow your network.
I will talk more about all of this, and share my thoughts and experiences about how to be a great general manager in the next weeks, and I invite you to share yours as well.
Leave your thoughts in the comment box below!
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