Help! Who can I go to for advice when I am the boss?
Straight-talking common sense from the front line of management
Q I have just started a new role at a great company and in most ways I could not be happier. The team is fantastic, the pay is great and I am really enjoying the challenge.
However, upon walking in on my first day, I was surprised to find that I’m the most senior person on the team. While I do have bosses, they are the owners of the company and rarely in the office and, unfortunately, there has been no handover between my predecessor and myself.
I don’t want to look like I don’t know what I am doing with my new team but honestly feel a little lost without anybody to turn to for guidance. What should I do?
A How strange to arrive at your new company with so much freedom. You claim to have been hired by a great company, but must be wondering why they haven’t welcomed you with a comprehensive induction programme, including a thorough briefing from your new boss.
Whatever the reasons behind such an unstructured start in the role, don’t expect that this privilege will last forever. Your immediate priority is to work out how to be a success.
When Timpson was part of United Drapery Stores (The UDS Group), as managing director I quickly discovered that the way to survive was to make sure that at least one other subsidiary was performing worse than our part of the group. Fortunately, I was surrounded by enough poor performers to keep my job until UDS was acquired by Hanson Trust, which had a different approach. Hanson expected every part of their group to provide a 20pc minimum return on capital, something a high street shoe shop chain could never achieve – so Hanson sold us our business.
Every new manager is entitled to a honeymoon period – time to understand the job, get to know the team and build a relationship with your line manager. You already have a positive opinion of your team members, but don’t just rely on first impressions. Spend time with each and every one of them, asking questions and seeking their opinion on what matters most and what needs to be done. You might be seen as their boss but, in truth, they will be running the department on your behalf. The key question is: “What can I do to help you to do your job and to clear any obstacles that get in the way?”.
By asking lots of questions, get to know as much as you can from the people on your team before having an in-depth discussion with your immediate boss and other members of the group hierarchy.
Your aim is to develop a strategy based on expert opinion –your team members are the experts, they know more about the job than anyone else in the business. Discussions with the big boss will help you to understand how they measure results and give you the chance to bring “group thinking” into line with the views of your front line colleagues.
But, despite having close contact with colleagues in your team and understanding the views of senior management, you could still do with an independent sounding-board – someone with whom you can discuss your major decisions and share your concerns. Margaret Thatcher explained it perfectly when she said “everyone needs a Willie”. Despite all the help available from mandarins and politicians, the next occupant of No10 will, like you, need to consult a trusty mentor.
Being able to talk things through with a true friend beats constantly turning difficult problems over in your mind. They don’t have to be someone in the business. Indeed an outsider can often be better. It may help to join a group of like-minded managers from other businesses – joining a Chamber of Commerce can bring some very profitable conversations at the bar before lunch.
So persuade your partner, a best mate or a business acquaintance to listen to your problems and talk through what needs to be done.
Despite being thrown in at the deep end, your period of bewilderment won’t last long. Within weeks you will have understood the job, got to know your team and discovered what your senior management is looking for. Once you know how it all works, all you have to do is to be a great boss. But that doesn’t just depend on you, it very much relies on the quality of your team. You say that the team is fantastic but make sure that every member has the experience and personality to deserve your backing. There is no need to tell them what to do, simply give everyone the freedom to be the very best they can be.
And by having your own mentor, you can rise above the politics, which inevitably exist whether you are in business or Downing Street.