How to Establish Credibility When Transitioning From Peer to Manager

Transitioning into a management role, especially one you've long aspired to, can be exhilarating. However, new managers often find that leading a team they were once part of comes with its own set of challenges. While many team members will celebrate your promotion, others may struggle to reconcile your new role with your previous relationship, making it difficult to establish the authority to effectively manage them. This is particularly true if you have close friends on the team, necessitating an adjustment in those relationships for both parties.

Moreover, it might be the case that one or more team members might have wanted your position themselves, an additional component that will require careful management. In this article, we'll explore effective role transition strategies that can be useful to establish credibility while successfully navigating such a challenging change.

Shifting Your Mindset 

Prepare for the Transition

While it’s very likely that you’ve been asked to start the new role right away, the best thing you can do is take some time to prepare for it. Here are some things you can do:

Ask for Tips From Managers

Seek advice from current leaders on how to transition from peer to manager. Their insights can give you several valuable approaches on how to approach leadership and offer valuable guidance tailored to thriving within your specific company. It will also have the secondary benefit of strengthening your relationships with other leaders by opening lines of communication.

Get Training

You can—and will—learn from experience in most cases. Investing in training, however, remains one of the best ways to hone and develop your skills before you need to use them. Invest in a complete leadership training or targeted courses aimed at building leadership skills for managers, such as active communication, emotional intelligence and time management. You should look at training as an ongoing investment, as good leaders continue to invest in training as their careers progress.

You might hear from longtime managers how important it is to invest in conflict resolution skills from the get-go. At JAMS Pathways, our team of trainers and facilitators has logged thousands of hours helping and training organizations to navigate tensions, disagreements and communication breakdowns. We encourage you to take a look at our robust set of leadership and conflict resolution trainings.

Visualize Your Leadership Style

Lastly, if you ever imagined yourself as a manager, how did you imagine yourself acting? In a previous blog post, we discussed the 15 defining characteristics of a good leader. Take some time to visualize what being a good leader means to you. As you explore different leadership styles, reflect on the qualities you are striving to possess.

Set Boundaries

When visualizing your leadership style, if you see yourself as a friendly, relaxed leader, it's important not to fall into the trap of acting as you did when you were a peer. Establishing credibility in the beginning of a transition might well mean distancing yourself at first to make sure there is a readjustment.

Balancing approachability with authority is crucial for new managers to maintain effective team dynamics and productivity. While it may seem beneficial to create a relaxed and approachable atmosphere, setting clear boundaries and expectations from the outset is essential. Failing to do so can lead to misunderstandings and potentially a decline in productivity, as team members may not take their responsibilities seriously.

New managers must practice leadership styles that foster respect and clarity. By maintaining professional boundaries, they can establish credibility and reinforce the importance of meeting productivity goals.

Ultimately, you'll need to determine what approach works best for you. However, when managing former peers, it’s essential to start developing a leadership presence, reconsidering behaviors that were commonplace in your previous role, such as casual socializing and gossiping. Remember, leadership is a spotlight. Your actions are constantly being observed and judged. While this can be daunting, it's crucial to maintain a level of professionalism that reflects your new role.

How to Establish Open Communication

To help get everyone on the same page during your leadership transition, promptly address the elephant in the room by having difficult conversations. Effective leaders understand the need for open communication during transitions. At some point, it becomes clear that maintaining the illusion that things will remain exactly the same is not practical. Addressing the team individually to acknowledge that the transition might evoke difficult feelings is essential.

During these conversations, it's important to underline that the leader’s directives are to be respected as they would be with any other boss. Inviting team members to share their opinions and concerns about the transition fosters a collaborative environment. This approach helps in working through the transition together, ensuring that everyone feels heard and supported.

Managing Close Relationships

Things get even trickier when you're close friends with someone on the team. While it’s normal—and possible—to still want to keep these friendships outside work, it may be best to set expectations that the relationship is very likely to change.

It's a good idea to have a chat with your friend and explain that to do your job fairly, you'll need to treat everyone the same. This helps avoid the appearance of favoritism with other co-workers.

You might consider setting up some ground rules for yourself as well, such as avoiding or lessening the discussion of personal interactions at work, disengaging from negative conversations about the company or co-workers after hours, and not sharing non-public information.

Managing a Team Member Who Wanted Your Job

Finally, if someone else on the team wanted your position, focus on turning them into an ally. The same tips as above apply—have the difficult conversation and acknowledge that you knew they were aiming for this role and that you’re looking forward to working together to achieve your common goals. Establish a commitment with this person that you will do your best so they can grow and reach their goals. When appropriate, consider putting them in a leadership position within the team, even an informal one. This not only helps them, but also creates a valuable support system for you in the future. 

How to Establish Trust and Credibility When Transitioning to Manager

Once you’ve laid the groundwork for transitioning from peer to manager, the real work begins. Building credibility as a new manager is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires consistent effort, dedication and strong relationship-building. Here's a few more new manager tips that can help you keep the momentum going:

Avoid Immediate Overhauls

It might be tempting to immediately implement a lot of changes once you’re given the chance, but this might be off-putting for your colleagues, who are used to working in a certain way and may not yet accept your authority. Take your time to establish trust and authority.

Implement One-on-One Conversations

From the start, establish regular one-on-one meetings with team members to listen to their concerns and expectations. Use these sessions to discuss growth plans and show genuine interest in their development. Remember, as a leader, your success depends on your team's success.

Encourage Autonomy

Recognize that everyone has their own way of doing things that has worked for them so far. Avoid micromanaging by allowing team members autonomy in achieving their goals. Encouraging independence builds trust and can help to gradually increase acceptance of your directives.

Be Honest About What You Don’t Know

As a first-time leader, you will make mistakes. Address them humbly by admitting what you don't know and committing to finding answers. Emphasize that success is a group effort, and you value input from all team members. This has the added benefit of building trust.

Mitigate Problematic Behavior

You might have inherited a team prone to conflict, or things might have escalated since you became manager, either related to your promotion or not. While conflict is not inherently bad, you should address it proactively and not let it escalate, as it becomes more entrenched and harder to solve. You can read about some additional strategies to minimize conflict in the workplace to help with this endeavor.

One common challenge for new managers is knowing when to seek help. Don't hesitate to involve HR for support. And if conflicts continue to escalate, consider bringing in a neutral third-party. Solutions like JAMS Pathways’ Conflict Prevention & Resolution Program focus on addressing conflict at its root, with the goal of providing lasting positive change.

Building credibility as a new manager is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires consistent effort, dedication and strong relationship-building.

Conclusion

Leading a team you were once part of offers an incredible opportunity for growth—for both you and your team members. By embracing challenges and implementing these effective leadership strategies, such as setting boundaries, fostering open communication, encouraging autonomy and addressing conflicts head-on, you can put yourself on the path to creating a positive work environment where everyone feels valued and empowered.

Remember, leadership is a journey, not a destination. Embrace the learning process, invest in yourself and your team, and watch them thrive under your guidance.