What to Do First When Managing Former Peers

Liane Davey

You just learned that you’ve been promoted and will now be managing a team of your former peers — exciting
news! That is, until the moment you realize that your good fortune means disappointment for your coworkers who
didn’t get the job. When you’re promoted over people who have always been friends (or rivals), the power
relationship is inevitably altered.

I’ve been working with teams for two decades, and the one thing I can almost guarantee is that there will be
awkward moments as you transition from team member to team leader. But these three things can help ease your
transition: one-on-one meetings with individuals, a team planning session, and swift intervention with resistant
individuals. Here’s how to go about it:

First, meet one-on-one with each member of the team. By having your first boss-subordinate conversations
individually, you’ll be able to personalize the message and be more candid than you can be in a group setting. Spend
considerable time in each meeting listening to your new direct report. Ask questions such as “Take me through your
objectives and where things are?” “Are there any specific areas where you would like my support?” “Tell me about
your development planning and any career conversations you have been having.” Listen carefully to the answers and
always rephrase and summarize to make sure you’re getting the right messages. That will allow them to relax and
realize you haven’t transformed into a maniacal manager.

Many newly promoted leaders make the mistake of stopping there. If you’re going to establish yourself as the boss,
you need to balance the friendly and inclusive approach with some signs of strength. That will give everyone
confidence that the team is in good hands. You don’t need to provide much detail, but do share your early vision for
the team and any priorities that you will tackle first. Make room for comments and questions so your team members
feel like coauthors of the plan.

At the end of each one-on-one meeting, enlist the support of individuals by asking for specific help in areas where
they can add value. Everyone knows that you went from being a peer to being the boss overnight, and pretending
that you suddenly have all the answers will damage your credibility. Ask for assistance in a genuine way that makes
your direct reports feel valuable and engaged. For example: “Juan, you’ve always been the software expert. I need
your help to get up to speed and to make sure I’m keeping the software issues top of mind.”

Next, it’s time for your first team meeting. If possible, try to make it a special format; ideally longer than normal and
in a unique setting such as a conference center outside of town or a room in your office with couches instead of
tables. If you can spend an afternoon and then go out socially after, it works even better.

Start by discussing the purpose of the team. Because you’ve already been a part of the team, you have all of the
background. But this is the chance to evolve the mandate in accordance with changing times. Bring in some of the
ideas from the one-on-one conversations and engage in a discussion about where you need to continue on the same
path and where you need to change the trajectory. By making some modifications to the goals or priorities of the
team, you will demonstrate that you’re not just a steward of the former boss’ plan but a leader in your own right.

Based on the mandate you develop, discuss the ideal meeting cadence for the team. What are the different types of
meetings you’ll need, how frequently do you need them, and with what durations? Meetings are often associated
with the leaders who established them, so setting out your own meeting formats and times goes a long way toward
ushering in the new era under your leadership.

Finally, spend some time explaining how you like to operate and what your rules of the road are going to be. If you
can distill your philosophies into two or three guiding principles, it’s really useful. For example, if you know that the
team tends to be somewhat passive-aggressive, be explicit about your expectation that concerns be addressed
directly. “I want to be very clear that all issues need to be shared openly so they can be resolved. Please don’t come
to me with an issue you haven’t addressed directly with one another first.” That way, if you need to deal with bad
behavior later, you’ve set the precedent from the start.
By meeting one-on-one with your team members and then engaging in a conversation about the team’s role and
functioning, you will go a long way toward establishing your leadership. Be open and demonstrate that you are
listening and learning but don’t make the mistake of being wishy-washy in hopes of not ruffling any feathers.

Those two steps will get you off to a good start. If (or more likely, when) there are challenges to your role or your
authority, be sure to deal with them swiftly and firmly. Here are a few examples of overt and covert challenges to
your leadership role and what to do:

A decision is made without your knowledge. If you learn that a decision has been made that you should have been
privy to, talk with the person and make your displeasure clear. “I just learned that you authorized a reduced price for
Acme. That’s a decision I should have been involved in. Let’s go over the types of decisions you can make
autonomously and the ones I need to be part of.”

An issue that has been closed is reopened. Resistant team members will often attempt to reopen a decision as a way
to test your authority. You can discourage that behavior with this approach. “We made a decision on that issue last
week. What is leading you to raise it again now? Let me reinforce that we need to move efficiently and my
expectation is that once a decision is made, everyone is on board and executing it. Dissent is welcome, but only
before the decision is made.”

A team member resists your leadership passive-aggressively. Often, resistant team members don’t have the courage
to challenge you directly. Instead, they show irreverence with subtle and not-so-subtle body language such as
turning away from you in meetings, rolling eyes, or disengaging from the conversation. When that happens, start
with a subtle response such as sitting directly beside or across from the person in the next meeting or walking
around behind the person while you’re talking. If resistance persists, provide direct feedback in a one-on-one. “In the
last couple of meetings, you have been sitting at the back of the room and only providing one word answers to my
questions. I’m concerned that you’re not making the transition to me being the leader of the team. What are you
willing to do differently to show you’re on board?”

A group of people gang up on you. It’s distressing enough to deal with one passive-aggressive team member, but
that stress is amplified if multiple people are questioning your leadership or badmouthing you to one another. If you
face this challenge, repeat the process of meeting with everyone individually and then addressing the issues in a
team meeting. Be direct in your feedback and don’t be afraid to make people a little uncomfortable: “I am
concerned that you are challenging my decisions and that your pushback is encouraging others to do the same.
What’s going on for you? How do we get things back on track?” If there are things you’ve been doing that have
contributed to the resistance, take responsibility for them. Use a team meeting to share the themes and then to
reinforce the ground rules you set at the beginning: You expect people to address these types of issues with you
directly in the future.

Your organization is demonstrating confidence in you by making you the leader of your team. Earn that confidence
by balancing the humility to listen and learn and serve your team with the courage to assert your role as a leader
when required. Valuable team members will adapt. Those who don’t may need to find another place to contribute.
8 Tips to Help You Manage Your Former Teammates
KAZIM LADIMEJI

The dark side of being promoted can be the trials you may face when suddenly stepping up and managing your
former peers and teammates. A fundamental change in the balance of workplace relationships occurs, and this can
lead to you feeling isolated and alienated. It may even lead to a loss of friendships.

To help those workers who may be considering a promotion ahead of their peers or who are having difficulty
managing their former peers following a promotion, I have set out some tips and pointers:.

1. Ensure the Change in Status Is Communicated

This may not be entirely under your control, but ensure that your promotion to head of the team is publicly justified,
endorsed, and communicated by your manager and other senior decision-makers. This will help to address any
confusion or misunderstanding that could put a dark cloud over your appointment and undermine your authority. It
must be made clear to all that the organization is giving you authority to act. In the army, you get a stripe — but I
accept it does not work quite that way in the corporate world!

2. Have a Relaxed Q&A with the Team

Being put in charge of former teammates causes a shift in the balance of power and may create tension. You will
want to address this head on. Why not arrange a relaxed team meeting, perhaps a working lunch in a neutral
setting? At the meeting, you can acknowledge the awkwardness and perhaps preempt questions about how things
will change. You should also take time to hear employee concerns and answer any questions they may raise.

It is important to let team members know that there will be no sudden changes. You should prep them for change by
telling them that you will take time to patiently assess the situation over the next month or so. Give everyone an
opportunity to have their say and let their concerns be known. Afterward, you can communicate your new team
vision.

3. Where Fools Rush In…

Research from McKinsey & Co. shows that the most effective new team leaders take about 1-2 months to survey the
territory, answer questions, understand the challenges, talk to stakeholders, and so on. This gives them a detailed
and thorough understanding of the situation.

At the end of this study period, you should have an idea of what steps need to be taken to build team cohesion —
e.g., perhaps three team members are cooperating, one is ambivalent, and one is resisting and spreading negativity,
meaning you need to reinforce certain behaviors and discourage others.

4. Establish Your Authority

Over the first two months, you will need to start establishing your authority by creating some distance between you
and the team. You cannot be as chummy as before, because doing so would undermine your authority.

5. Dress Differently

Shallow as it sounds, one of the simplest steps may be to start dressing more formally. If managers wear suits to
distinguish themselves, you should start doing the same. This will lead others to perceive you as a manager as well.

6. Change the Way You Associate With Your Team Members

You may need to change the way you associate with your former teammates. For example, you clearly cannot gossip
with them about other teammates or managers. In turn, you will probably want to spend more time socializing with
other managers to help build that managerial distance and to give yourself a new support network.

7. Behave Like a Manager

This includes outlining your team vision and managerial style. Spend time interviewing team members to understand
what their preferred managerial style is. Try to tailor your managerial approach to suit the individual as much as you
can. People will see you as a skilled and effective manager, which will help to highlight your authority.

8. Be Decisive

At the right time, you will need to show that you can be decisive. For example, if a frustrated team member refuses
to come around and is being disruptive you may need to take swift and decisive action — which could involve
dismissal.

It is perfectly possible to effectively manage former teammates. It can be a rocky road, but following these tips can
help to smooth the way.
Managing Groups and Teams/Managing Leadership Transitions
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Managing_Groups_and_Teams/Managing_Leadership_Transitions

Introduction
The transition period of replacing a leader within a company is often not a very costly time for not only the company,
but all personnel involved. In the 1992 study "Turnover and Evole Models for Family Leave," researchers J. Douglas
Phillips and Barbara Reisman estimate that the cost of replacing a top-level manager is about 150 percent of the
manager's base salary. These costs can include: accrued annual leave, substantial severance pay, executive
recruitment activities, interim management costs and numerous intangible and indirect costs. This chapter examines
how to successfully manage the transition from team member to team leader. It is important to have an effective
strategy for this transition because it has a direct impact on the future performance of the team and its leader. This
transitional phase sets behavioral norms for team members, establishes performance standards, affects members’
motivation, and creates the leader’s and members’ perceptions about their ability to excel as a cohesive unit. Data
from Development Dimensions International concerning leadership transitions states that nearly one out of every
five "people managers" rank transitioning leadership as the most challenging life event one could experience and at
the strategic level, these numbers are even higher, often times placing transitions above divorce, managing
teenagers, moving and even becoming a parent.

The managing leadership transitions chapter is divided into multiple sections and is designed to be either read
completely or referred to simply as reference. The first section examines the functional and psychological impacts
that this phase can have on team members and transitioning leaders. The second section explores the challenges
that a newly promoted team leader faces when establishing influence over the team members who were once
teammates. The best methods for establishing influence over a team are also assessed. Section three provides
practical advice for newly promoted leaders to accelerate the transition process from team member to full fledged
team leader, while setting both the leader and the team up for future performance success.

Functional and Psychological Impacts of Transitioning from Team Member to Team Leader
Being promoted to a team leadership role brings many challenges. One of the more difficult obstacles encountered is
when promotion occurs from within the team. The new leader finds him in a position of authority over a group of
team members he previously worked alongside. This can result in struggle for both the team and the leader as roles
are reassigned and individuals adjust to the new relationship. As companies and schools place more emphasis on
teamwork, people find themselves facing this conflict of moving from peer to supervisor more often. What may have
once been an easy relationship based on shared experiences is now one of shifted dynamics and unease among the
team. Despite the increasing occurrence of this event, the transition rarely goes smoothly and often is unsuccessful.
In an attempt to better understand why some individuals succeed in making the change to team leader, many
studies have been done to help identify root causes and potential solutions. Among those concepts identified are
social biases and role conflict. In this section, we hope to further explore these concepts and the role they play in the
team member to team leader transition.

The newly promoted team leader may find them struggling with role conflict. He/she must learn how to balance the
relationships built as a peer and the new responsibility of acting as the boss. Maurice B. Mittelmark’s editorial "Social
ties and health promotion: suggestions for population-based research", comments on studies which examine role
conflict and its adverse psychological and functional impacts. As applied to transitions from team member to leader,
the article supports the proposition that new leaders will be less successful at managing the team and more
psychologically stressed if the leader tries to maintain multiple roles, as teammate and team leader. “The Role
Conflict situation is that in which multiple roles… are perceived to demand too much time and attention...” The
article places “emphasis on multiple roles as the stress factor, not on too low capacity to perform as expected
(although P [the team leader] may nevertheless take blame for not being able to manage somehow).” A real world
example of the significant impact of leadership transitions occurs at a US Freightways hub in Holland, where they
have been able to study the effect of transitioning terminal managers. The US Freightways hub in Holland has 59
terminals and regularly sees a 20% annual turnover in terminal managers, thus nearly 12 transitions per year. Taking
the 12 transitions per year and multiplying that by the average effective time of 4 months per transition, US
Freightways calculated that at any time, 4 terminals or nearly 7% of their hub were consistently operating
ineffectively.

When a team leader proves ineffective at managing the team member and team leader role, the psychological stress
of trying to juggle multiple roles and consistently meeting deadlines will ultimately cause the leader to fail. The
failure is more often a result of this stress than the increased functional workloads associated with performing the
tasks of team leader.

Role conflict can also occur because of commitment and the brain’s strong tendency to want to be consistent with
prior actions. For example, employees may lock themselves into certain roles by telling coworkers “they’ll always be
there to support them.” However, when those employees are promoted the roles change. The promoted employees
may find themselves stuck in certain roles because they want to remain consistent with what was said beforehand.
In the example where a supervisor has to lay off a previous coworker and friend, dissonance is created and will
interfere with the supervisory role. One of the first steps a new leader must take in order to increase their chances of
success is to establish a policy for assessment and accountability. The role of each team member should be assessed
along with a focus on accountability for each role. The leader is accountable for his team's results; each team
member should know his or her roles and responsibilities. By establishing clear expectations from the team, the
leader will be better positioned to lead. Most importantly, with proper planning and training on the part of the new
leader, role conflict can be managed more successfully.

While there may be resistance from group members for a variety of reasons, whether it is resentment of being
passed over for the promotion or doubt of one's leadership skills, it is probably in the best interest of the new
supervisor to deal with those people on a case-by-case basis. Initially both the new leader and former peer may be
hesitant to continue a social relationship outside of work; this does not have to be the case. As long as both parties
are able to recognize and acknowledge that work stays at the office. In addition, the transition may be helped if the
new leader is able to focus on the opportunity of the new position, not just for him, but the team. This will help in 3
ways:
1. Provide framework to help separate coworkers from the leader
2. Make the promotion and new leadership more of an uplifting goal
3. Encourage new associations to be created for the promoted employee and the new set of peers (other
leadership members)

Challenges and Methods for Establishing Influence over the Team

Imagine that you have been part of a team that has been working on a project. Having worked closely with each
other for some time, each participant has become familiar with the skills and competencies of the other members
and the team dynamics have been such that all consider themselves peers, having equal skills and knowledge to
bring to the table. Now suppose that management is unhappy with the disappointing results that have come from
this team effort and they have asked you to lead the team to the desired outcomes for which it was first established.
Would you expect this new appointment to be met with resistance from your peers?

Actually, team members who transition into a managerial or team leader role in the midst of an ongoing project can
face a wide array of challenges in asserting their newfound influence. Most likely the new leader is now in charge of
his/her peers and it may prove difficult for team members to take direction from someone whom they still consider
as an equal. The transition period for a new leader is encumbered with a variety of resistive tendencies that may not
only cause delays, but also a significant loss of focus which will lead to even greater problems down the road.

Once the group dynamic changes, already existing social biases can be augmented or new social biases can arise that
can further complicate the matter. Underlying social biases like false uniqueness, recency biases, and stereotyping
can begin to emerge and become a prevalent part of the team atmosphere. According to Gerardo Okhuysen in his
article “Managers and Social Processes” these biases have the definitions described in the table below.
Social Biases Definition
False The false uniqueness effect refers to the tendency we have to underestimate the number of
Uniqueness people who do what we do, and like what we like.
As we gather information about others or about situations, we give much more weight to
Recency
information that is acquired recently, sometimes completely forgetting all the things that
Biases
happened before.
This is a tendency we have to simplify the world by putting people into a category, and then
Stereotyping
fitting the individual into the stereotype of that category.

These definitions take on life when put in the context of practical application. Returning to the scenario at the
beginning of this section we can show how these social biases are applied to real situations.
 Social Biases Situation
As you begin to lead your group of peers false uniqueness may arise when your team members
False respond to your leadership by thinking that if they were chosen to lead the group they would have
Uniqueness handled it differently, when in reality if given the same circumstances they would have acted
exactly as you have.
While leading the group you may react to any negative feedback you are getting from your team
Recency by labeling them as inherently difficult or unyielding in spite of how agreeable they may have been
Biases in the past. Your bias is a response to their most recent behavior and you have nullified all prior
knowledge.
As you take on your new leadership role the team members may now attribute characteristics to
you that they feel are possessed by all managers. They may attribute to you characteristics of
Stereotyping
pride, arrogance, and self interest rather than an interest in the group, whether or not you actually
display these characteristics.

While the competitive nature of many companies can certainly increase the likely occurrence of the above issues
regardless of the influence the leader has; often these disruptions are signs that the newly assigned team leader’s
authority is not properly recognized.

Interestingly, problems stemming from a lack of leadership authority are much more likely to surface when
promotion occurs from within a team. An example of this occurred in a small defense company in California. The
generation gap between the two main engineering levels was quite vast. As the project moved forward,
inconsistencies in the management style of the senior project manager resulted in a prompt changing of the guard.
The most qualified individual was of the younger generation and was well liked by his peers for his outgoing and fun
personality, but the project manager position was not all fun and games. The six months that followed where riddled
with faulty product development, severe lapses in judgment and many test series that were absent from oversight
by project management. Being promoted from within caused the new project manager to be put in the difficult
position of having to be in charge of the same co-workers he amused just the day before.

In order to lead effectively, a manager’s authority must be well established. In Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence, the
Psychology of Persuasion, he determines “authority” to be the most effective method for leaders to influence team
performance and describes the various aspects of authority as encompassing perceptual cues, such as titles,
positions and appearance, concrete knowledge and expertise.

In general, superficial cues such as formal titles or a list of accolades that may lend to the authoritative image of
an unfamiliar manager cannot serve an individual promoted from within a team who is already well known to the
group. Managers who are promoted from within an existing team face a unique challenge with respect to
establishing their influence primarily as a result of the perceptual components of authority.

The logistical and social components of leadership transitions also provide a unique challenge to any new leader,
whether he/she is from inside the company or an external hire. Just as a strong functioning team can be one of the
greatest assets to a manager and the entire company, an ill performing entity can rapidly bring a process to a
screeching halt.

It is almost certain that the new leader of any team will be different than the previous leader, be it in management
style, attitude or vision. These qualities, however good or bad, must be accepted by the entire team in order for
them to collectively move forward and maintain a strong status. In retaliation to change, a vault of resistive
pressures may be unleashed toward the new leader ranging from severe lack of urgency and distraction to jealousy
and animosity towards all management.
Project meetings can quickly become less orderly, employees can lose focus and general chaos ensues. Many social
biases including false uniqueness and stereotyping can create a wall between the new leader and his/her
subordinates. The reoccurring ideas that "I could have done that better" or "he is a typical suit that does not know
what is really going on here" can slowly begin to implode the team environment. Although many of these examples
seem extreme, transitions in leadership often do cause logistical delays leading to a temporary rise in social bias
among subordinates.

In a recent article by Sotiriou and Wittmer, “Influence Methods of Project Managers: Perceptions of Team Members
and Project Managers", the authors present the findings of three separate studies that attempt to measure the
importance of various factors relating to managerial influence. “Expertise” was examined as a separate factor in the
project management studies but showed almost identical ratings to the “authority” component, suggesting that
these components are very closely related. The studies also provided evidence that knowledge, when used as an
influential method, is highly correlated to a project manager's overall effectiveness. It is evident that newly
promoted managers are therefore best served by leveraging their knowledge and expertise, to help establish
authority within their new role. Robert Cialdini however, identifies “liking” as an important factor in enabling people
to influence others and he endorses a persuasion technique that leverages “liking” or friendship as a way for leaders
to influence team members. In a situation where a colleague is promoted to a leadership role, the new manager
might hope to rely on friendship ties with former peers to help motivate the team and encourage them to take
direction. Managers choosing to use "liking" as a strategy for empowerment should be aware that often times team
members adopt a familiarity with the new manager that is consistent with his or her collegial or “friendship” role
and therefore do not properly respond to the new supervisory role.

Once a proper blend of expertise, knowledge and "non-liking" has been established, management becomes further
complicated by the familiar “us vs. them” mentality that is quite common in organizations. While it is not always
appropriate to rely on friendships to motivate and direct team efforts, it is still necessary to eliminate adversarial
relationships between team members and team leaders. Cialdini identifies “contact and cooperation” as valuable
methods of unifying groups that may originally perceive themselves to be at odds. “Conjoint efforts toward common
goals” can help to overshadow contentious relationships and leaders often benefit from incorporating the inherent
team challenges into a strategy focused on the major goals of the project. This approach is echoed by Sotiriou and
Wittmer’s project management studies that identify the “work challenge” as the overall most important factor
contributing to the positive influence of project managers. These results further support methods of motivation that
emphasize creating a meaningful and challenging work environment to help transitioning managers become
effective team leaders.

Managing leadership transitions is a very difficult thing to do, but there are excellent strategies that can help ease
the burden on everyone involved. A well rounded combination of expertise and knowledge will foster an
authoritative position for the new leader. The "liking" factor, often present when an in-group employee is promoted,
can be very valuable in establishing strong positive influence. However, one must always be aware of the potential
social biases and resistive tendencies of once peer, now subordinate employees. Strong leaders should work toward
creating a challenging and satisfying work environment that not only focuses the team on common project goals, but
also demonstrates that the leader's influence can and will lead the team to produce effective and positive outcomes.
In the transition period for a new leader, the window of opportunity is short and he/she must be willing to make
great strides toward establishing a solid influence over their team.

Practical Advice for Accelerating a Leadership Transition

A change in leadership of a project team requires a period of transition for everyone involved, especially the new
leader. One of the best resources for practical and applicable advice about how to manage this period of transition
is The First 90 Days: Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels by Michael Watkins. This book offers a structure
and framework to help new leaders manage and accelerate the transition process that comes with their new role.

The book identifies ten key challenges for any new leader. We have adapted these ten challenges, which can be
applied when a project team member transitions into a team leadership role; later we will discuss the challenges we
feel are most important for this particular situation. The ten challenges are as follows:
1. Promote Yourself: Change your mindset to reflect the realities of your new position. Don’t assume that what
has been successful for you in the past will work for you today. Your new position may require you to
acquire and develop new skills in order to guarantee success for you and your new team.
 2. Accelerate Your Learning: When transitioning into a leadership role within the same company or team, the
learning curve will be less steep, but an open mind is vital to any new leader’s success. As a member of the
team, you were probably familiar with the industry, the company, your competitors, and the market, in
addition to your own specific functions and responsibilities on the project. However, as the new leader of
the team, you may not know the exact details of your teammate's responsibilities, so learning about these
from your team members will be essential.
3. Match Strategy to Situation: You need to understand the current business situation, and identify its unique
challenges and opportunities. As a member of the team, you should have a good idea as to what the
consequences and implications of transition will be, as well as a good sense for the team dynamics. A clear
grasp of the situation will help you to develop a winning strategy in managing and accelerating the
transition.
4. Secure Early Wins: Building credibility will be essential to establishing your new role on the team, and
securing early wins is the best way to achieve this. Formal authority over your former peers will only carry
you so far before your team members start to think, “I could probably do a better job.” Securing early wins
will demonstrate to the team that you can plan and achieve tangible goals for the group, and they will
probably be more willing to follow your lead.
5. Negotiate Success: Perhaps the most important relationship in your new leadership role will be the one
between you and your new boss. It will essential that you plan and execute a series of conversations with
your new boss regarding his/her expectations; ask what resources will be available to help you develop your
team.
6. Achieve Alignment: Ensure that your goals, your team’s goals, and the organization’s goals are all in
alignment.
7. Build Your Team: Inheriting a team can produce a variety of interpersonal issues. Depending on the nature
of your transition, you may or may not be given authority to make personnel decisions immediately or at all.
A thorough and careful assessment of the situation will help when making recommendations to your boss,
and assist you in your own decisions as how to restructure your team for optimal performance.
8. Create Coalitions: Your success will greatly depend upon your ability to influence people outside your direct
line of control. As the new leader of the team, you are the voice of your team to the organization at large.
You should not only build and maintain alliances with the people on your own team, but also with the key
individuals within the organization who are necessary to the ultimate success of your team.
9. Keep Your Balance: Transitions are extremely difficult to manage; it is easy to lose perspective, become
isolated, and make bad decisions. To help maintain a balanced perspective, you need to develop a strong
advice and counsel network both within your team and within the organization.
10. Expedite Everyone: You need to not only accelerate your own transition, but the transitions of everyone you
work with – direct reports, bosses, and peers.

The most important challenges that pertain to a team member stepping into a management or leadership role relate
to those challenges described in numbers 1, 3, 4, and 5 from above. What follows is a detailed description and how
the challenges apply to each situation.

Challenge 1: “Promote Yourself,” relates to the psychological transition that a team member must make when
promoted to team leader. As discussed in section one, newly promoted leaders must change their perception of
themselves and re-frame their roles within the team. While it may seem that the re-framing would be most difficult
for the leader’s former peers, in reality it is the new leader whose own behavior must change. For example, team
leaders will have to forgo the informal chit-chat and chumminess they may have formerly enjoyed with their peers.
Also, managers probably won't be included in all of the after-hours fraternizing or social activities of the team.

Challenge 2: “Matching Strategy to Situation,” is arguably the most important challenge for a team member
transitioning to a team leader. Without fully understanding at what stage the project team is in, a new leader will be
unable to tailor the correct managerial approach to the team’s current situation; as a result the team will fail to
achieve. Watkins recommends using the STaRS model (Start-up, Turn-around, Realignment, and Sustaining Success),
as a framework for helping to diagnose the team’s current situation. A transitioning leader must identify the
challenges and opportunities facing the team in order to recognize the structural implications underpinning their
team’s ability to perform. Those who move from team member to team leader likely do so as a result from an
organization's need for realignment. Often in a realignment situation, the leader’s challenge is to revitalize a team
project which has deteriorated. In this situation, the leader must challenge engrained norms of behavior, convince
team members that change is warranted, as well as restructure and refocus the team. These challenges are offset by
potential strengths already inherent in the team; team members’ prior success serves as motivation for wanting to
achieve future success.
Watkins’ assertion that transitional leaders must match their strategy to the team’s situation is in line with Hersey
and Blanchard’s Developmental Theory of Leadership. This theory matches leadership style to group maturity. Group
maturity is a function of time, and leadership style matches relationship-orientation and task-orientation to the
group’s stage of development. In the case of transitioning leaders, the group may be mature when the teammate is
promoted to team leader, but because the dynamic of the team is now changed, the leader may need to adapt
his/her leadership strategy to fit the formative stage of team development. In the formative stage, the new leader
should first focus on the team’s tasks. After this initial phase, the leader should then heighten his/her relationship-
orientation, while maintaining equal focus on task-orientation.

Challenge 3: “Secure Early Wins,” is essential for establishing credibility as the new leader of the team. These early
wins should be “team wins” as opposed to wins for the new leader. This will help build the perception that the new
leader is effective not just in managing his or her own work, but more importantly getting the team to work together
toward common goals. Watkins asserts that a new leader’s “earliest actions will have a disproportionate influence
on how they are perceived” New leaders are perceived as more credible when they display a specific managerial
style. This style, according to Watkins, consists of six components. A new leader must be (1) “demanding but able to
be satisfied” (motivating members to commit to and achieve realistic goals,) (2) “accessible but not too familiar”
(establishing approachability without compromising authority,) (3) “decisive but judicious” (communicating the
ability to take charge without making hasty big decisions,) (4) “focused but flexible” (establishing authority but
consulting team members and encouraging team input,) (5) “active without causing commotion” (building
momentum without overwhelming,) and (6) “willing to make tough but humane calls ” (ensuring decisions are fair
and preserve team members’ dignity.)

Challenge 4: “Negotiate Success,” is another challenge that is essential in almost any situation. Ultimately, your boss
is the main person who will be evaluating your team and your individual performance, which are directly tied. So
establishing criteria and tangible objectives with your new boss is essential. Also, keep in mind that these goals may
have been set for you by your predecessor, but as part of Challenge 3, you must evaluate these objectives and
determine if they are still realistic given the transition period required for the change in leadership, this and other
factors which your predecessor might not have taken into consideration.

Leaders in Transition Additional Time Spent As seen in table to the left from Paese and Wellins - "Leaders In
Communicating 64.7% Transition: Step Up or Step Off" of Development Dimensions
Planning 60.8% International [2], communication and planning consume vast
amounts of time from transitioning leaders. In a study performed by
Building A Team 60.0%
Evolta [3] , 60 –65 % of all transitioners make their transition without
Strategy 58.2%
special support from transition-based help firms. Often due to the
Influencing 57.1% fact that it takes transitioners 6 - 9 months to become fully effective
and efficient in their new positions, a startling 35 - 40% of transitioning leaders fail.

Although the change in leadership of a project team requires a period of transition for everyone involved, the
transitioning leader has many tools available to make the journey as pain free as possible. Following proven
strategies for smoother transitions and possibly seeking the advice of leadership transition training by companies
like Evolta, transitioning leaders can not only reduce the time involved, but also increase their likelihood of success.

Conclusion
This chapter focuses on how to manage the transition from team member to team leader, when working in a team-
based organization. With the reality that "internally sourced leaders are failing 33% of the time" and "very few
leaders feel that organizations are doing the right things to prepare their future leaders" (Paese and Wellins), the
pressure on transitioning leaders seems insurmountable. Although the mountain is high, a key aspect of a successful
transition is an effective strategy.

The importance of a successful transition not only lies with the leader, but also with the future performance of the
entire team. The psychological impacts of the transitional period may include role conflicts and the animosity and
personal doubt of other "passed over" teammates. Stress and impaired functionality are often negative outcomes
that commonly arise from role conflict and often the best way to overcome such role conflict is to simply relinquish
the prior teammate role and frame the leadership role as a definitive new challenge. Once the new leader has
successfully changed his/her perception from team member to leader, the leader must establish influence over the
team. Although this may be extremely difficult at times and require the entire team to overcome strong social
biases, the results of a meaningful and challenging work environment are well worth the effort. One of the best ways
to influence a team is through a combination of leveraging knowledge, expertise and "liking" to focus the team
around a common set of goals. This combination of techniques not only establishes the leader’s credibility within the
team, but it also primes the group to visualize accomplishing future goals under such leadership. Finally, even with
extensive training and a thorough understanding of the social biases that may be present during your transition, it is
the actions of the leader that matter most. We discussed topics like how to "promote yourself", "match strategy to
situation" and "negotiate success" as excellent ways to accelerate your transition period. By opening your mind and
following some of the aforementioned guidelines for leadership transitions, anyone can successfully transition into a
coveted leadership role with confidence and finesse.