I did a lot of associate work for almost eight years. I moved from one function to another — human resources, marketing communications, product management, trade marketing. I even had short stints in corporate communications and change management.
When I finally landed a managerial role and became part of our company’s leadership team, I was elated. It had always been my dream to climb the corporate ladder, but it wasn’t until I started managing a team of 11 that I realized the responsibility that came with it.
With new people, processes, business partners, budget cuts, price increase, aggressive growth, and revenue targets, the challenges came one after another. It was daunting! I even started seeing numbers in my sleep. My calendar was fully blocked with meetings and fieldwork. Excel and Outlook kept lagging and PowerPoint files started to clutter my desktop. A number of tabs remained open and thousands of emails remained unread. My productivity dropped. Had I remained to be an associate, I would have handled it so much better. This time, I had a team to lead and people to consider. It was definitely harder than I ever imagined it would be.
I was surely overwhelmed. How did I suddenly go from doing things excellently to doing the bare minimum? I didn’t know for sure what I was doing as a manager, but I made it up as I went along.
And here’s what I realized:
1) It’s hard to know everything and you don’t have to. Being a new manager is tricky. You used to be a specialist but now you’re responsible for something you may not have been doing before.
You will start managing your team’s emotions, coaching your people for success, monitoring their performance, developing succession plans, as well as discussing compensations and promotions, if any. At the same time, you will also be developing business plans, pitching to business partners, trying to hit sales targets, monitoring forecasts, and explaining to customers why supply will not be available at the moment.
Everyone is expecting you to get the job done as if this was your expertise for years. But it’s important to stay focused and accept that you don’t have to have the answers right away. One of the reasons teams exist is to share knowledge and develop solutions together. Remember, your role as a leader is to leverage your team’s skills, knowledge, and expertise to steer the group in the direction where your goals can be realized. It’s okay to be overwhelmed or confused when you are starting a new job but it wouldn’t hurt to ask for help.
2) You will make mistakes and that’s okay. As a new manager, there’s always pressure to prove that you are worthy of the position. People around you expect you to do things with utmost perfection.
You don’t have to be perfect. Managers decide on the course of action based on facts, knowledge, skills, and experience. There’s always room for error. That’s trusting your gut. Do you know what’s more important than perfection? It’s having the courage and accountability to face the consequences of the decisions we made. Always remember that progress takes time and the more you work on the things you’re not comfortable doing yet, the more you will get better at it moving forward.
Learn. Absorb. Adapt. Do better.
3) It’s okay to doubt yourself but you don’t have to. When we are overwhelmed by too much work or pressure, or from mistakes that affect people who matter to us, we tend to question our capabilities and doubt our potential. That’s normal. We also tend to worry about the smallest things.
Am I really supposed to be here? Do I deserve this role? YES, you do.
So, don’t let doubts cloud your confidence. Self-awareness is the key to self-confidence. You develop confidence when you work on what you feel you’re lacking and nurture what you feel you are strong in. Do yourself a favor and be in charge of your own development. In this day and age, there is nothing that can’t be learned.
I’ve been leading my team for over a year now and while I’m still figuring out the way to go, I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come.
I’ve made some mistakes and might still be making some but I’ve learned some things and for sure will still be learning some.
To all young managers out there, you got this.
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Erika Gonzales, 29, is a business unit manager leading marketing and sales teams, driving growth, and delivering value for a pet health business.