Useful life hacks for becoming a top manager

Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.

Paul Hawken

Manager is a person in charge of a project or a complex set of tasks as well as people represented by internal and external stakeholders of a company.

Working in one of the top companies in one of the most lucrative areas of corporate finance – Mergers & Acquisitions, I have received my promotion from assistant manager to manager internally. From today to tomorrow you come to work and you feel like you are on a rollercoaster hanging in the air upside down.

How does one become a manager? – my inner voice asked me while I was downing my espresso nr. 5 on that rainy office morning. Seriously, how does an internally promoted manager turn into a really good manager? Is it really just learning by doing or can one prepare him/herself for making this career leap?

Step 1 Get used to control switch

I was mentally unprepared for an overnight mindset transition from formally being managed into managing others and delivering results. I have deliverables, but I have no one telling me HOW to do it. Instead, I have all creative power to structure the process the way I think should work the best.

Step 2 Get your own signature management style and manager voice

This is where one gets to develop their own unique management style. First you tend to be in your own stream and do things yourself until you realize. This is not possible anymore on a scale you have to deliver. Too many tasks and you have only 24 hours in a day, at least 5 of which are made for sleep.

Along with the management style, one gets to speak in their own manager voice. At first I was shy to speak out. But hello, Katie, you are the manager now. If not you, who will? Instead of blaming or ordering, I chose to approach each person in my team with empathy. I know, sounds soft at first. But trust me, a good word on a bad day will get more respect in the eyes of your junior colleagues than the best show-off order there is.

Step 3 Design your own management strategy

To manage a team of people, work streams, external stakeholders, networking and admin one needs an efficient strategy in place. I used outlook clustering tool, prio-organizer, went through admin tasks 15 min prior to starting my work and before leaving my desk in the evening. I also used a simple notebook to write down my thoughts filtered by project.

Step 4 Recognize it is people business

As a manager you realize that now it is not you who gets the deals generated by other people, but you are responsible for bringing leads in and turning them into the live projects. You should consider attending events and networking with relevant people. Being a social butterfly, I also happened to be an introvert, meaning that I lose energy from communicating with people. Therefore, I planned carefully which events I was going to attend. I also make sure I plan enough time alone to restore my balance.

Key takeaway

My key learning so far as an internally promoted manager has been twofold. Responsibility caused me so much stress, anxiety and sleepless nights. But funny enough it turned out to be my sense of success, achievement. It is now my ultimate source of professional as well as personal growth.

Don’t be afraid of taking on the responsibility of a manager. Try it out and move along step by step bringing out the best in you and feeling fulfilled in the end.

Katie