How does a new leader … lead?
As with any new role in any workplace, new leaders have the added difficulty of learning on the job. The biggest obstacles fresh leaders face are great expectations and the need to multitask. According to Texas A&M University, the challenge isn’t meeting those expectations but having to complete them all at once. The key findings in this joint Texas A&M University and University of Alabama collaborative study show facing multiple challenges at the same time is a challenge worth facing.
Emily Blum, assistant professor of accounting at Mays Business School, along with collaborator Kris Hoang of the University of Alabama, conducted interviews with 45 audit senior associates at large U.S. accounting firms. The findings show that new leaders must be confident, able to complete complex work uninterrupted, and learn as they work, even if they do not have the final say in the finished project.
One tension is the tightrope: balancing immediate demands with work that requires concentration. New leaders can feel pressured to respond immediately to their teammates at the expense of deep, focused work. Projecting confidence and dispensing knowledge, all while continuing to develop their skills, is exactly what that tightrope demands. Immediate judgment is key, all while deferring to senior leaders on the overall scope and needs of each project.
In Blum and Hoang’s interviews, they discovered just how overwhelming these conditions can be. Blum recalled one professional describing at as feeling as if they were trying to “get out from under water” while people were “still throwing water on top of them.”’
Blum said tensions aren’t something new leaders can simply resolve by deciding which responsibility matters most. When it comes to responding immediately to team inquiries, making the wrong move as a leader can result in incomplete work or hurting their team’s performance.
“One of the things we learned was, you really can’t just pick one thing,” Blum said. “You have to find a way to hold both of these, and that can be really hard.”
Learning to navigate those trade-offs matters more than you may think. Competing demands don’t vanish as employees become adept at their jobs. This multitasking, however, is part of what causes growth in new leaders.
The study discovered some employees have developed ways to navigate those trade-offs. One professional in the study learned to ask a supervisor for help reorganizing priorities. It is, of course, important for employees not to frame the conversation as an inability to handle their duties.
Blum noted new leaders can run into trouble when they lean too far in one direction. The key, as discovered in their study, is to embrace the balancing act and continuing with the discomfort, instead of neglecting half of the job.
The three most important resources, according to the researchers of this study, are time, information, and social capital. Organizations that provide all three are setting their new leaders up for success.
How can organizations implement these three tools? Blum said. “ It’s more about giving them the support so that they can struggle productively.”
Discomfort is the key takeaway when dealing with competing expectations, said Blum.
“If you’re working hard and you still feel like you’re being pulled in two different directions, it may be that you’re doing things exactly right,” she said. “That could be a sign that you’re trying to navigate these tensions instead of letting them push you to ignore a piece of your job. If you’re in that position, I’d say keep going. It should get more comfortable with time.”
