1. Alter your management style to align with individuals’ needs
Wayne St. Amand, CMO at Visual IQ: One thing I wish I’d known before making the transition is you can’t apply a one-size-fits-all strategy. It’s important to take the time to really get to know the individuals that make up your team and craft your management style and strategies accordingly.
Earlier in my career, I often expected my teams to adapt to me, instead of the other way around. There was one instance when I was working with a remote team member who was very detailed and thoughtful in written communications, but rarely made substantial contributions during team meetings or one-on-one calls. I learned that giving this person the space to reflect on conversations or directives, and then come back to me in writing, was the best way to optimise the working relationship and meet our objectives.
2. Learn from the senior people around you
Candice Nolan, head of propositions and campaigns at RWE npower business: In my previous role I really admired the marketing director and if I had a sticky problem I’d think: ‘What would she do?’. At one point I’d been set the challenge of promoting the fact that we’d won an award. The original plan was to rebrand some cars and drive them around the country. But the question no one had asked was: ‘How is this going to create sales?’. Thinking in this way helped me consider things from a different angle.
3. Be proactive and take the initiative
Nico Lutkins, director of marketing, EMEA at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: It’s important to seek out and capitalise on opportunities to demonstrate your skills, rather than only talking hypothetically about what you’re capable of doing if ‘given the chance’.
Earlier in my career, I was working in a non-marketing role in a smaller firm which had relatively little marketing support. Rather than wait for support, which I knew I wouldn’t ever realistically get, I took it upon myself to run my own marketing campaigns, built a case for budget to be able to scale those out, and effectively grew the scope of my remit. This teed me up for a transition into a more senior role leading the marketing team for the region.
4. Reflect on past experiences to prepare for the future
Tim Lines, associate director at Nelson Bostock Unlimited: For me, it was a bumpy road. But you have to learn from your mistakes because you’ll be better for it. I think about that presentation to 75 people that could have gone better. I think about the times I put my foot in it or could have managed a team situation more sensitively. Now I’ll never go into a major presentation in the same way. I know how I need to prepare. I consider the hardest questions, and I’m 100% clear on what I want the audience to hear and take away.
I also wish I’d understood the enormity of the change in roles and had been confident enough to ask for help. By finding a colleague or mentor who’d go for a coffee and talk through a challenge, I’d have learned faster and made fewer mistakes.
"It's important to take the time to really get to know the individuals that make up your team and craft your management style and strategies accordingly"
5. Make a gradual transition instead of a sudden one
Russ Powell, marketing manager at Atos: I think it’s very rare you just stop the ‘doing’ aspect suddenly and switch to ‘managing’, but making a gradual transition is good for all parties involved. Gradually moving away from the doing and handing over responsibilities to your team will enable you to train up a replacement in a structured way. During this transition, those colleagues can be trained and offered guidance while helping you let go of responsibilities over time, without it feeling like you’re abandoning projects or work.
6. Focus on strengthening your people skills
Candice: I’ve learned that 50% of your time can be spent dealing with other people’s problems. When considering a management role, make sure you know if you want to manage a team or not. People management requires you to have an entirely different set of skills; to be a good people manager, you need to develop patience and the ability to read people well.
Also, knowing what motivates your team is the key to working out how you can get the best out of them. I like to take time to ask people what they’ve been up to in their personal lives and organise a monthly team lunch to help with cohesion.
7. Start thinking about the bigger (business) picture
Candice: Working as a contractor helped me build my confidence and learn how to manage my cash flow. It brought me a lot closer to realising how a business works. And working in a small business is what allowed me to make the transition more easily. I now have a better understanding of ROI, due to seeing every penny I spend within my role as my own, (rather than business cash). As a result, I watch my spend and return carefully. Talking to CFOs became easier because it meant I could talk numbers with them, and not just creative marketing – something they often don’t understand.
