Share thisThe big day has arrived; I’ve been promoted. I’m no longer just one of the guys; I’m a supervisor! True, it’s the lowest rung on the management ladder, but still . . . it’s a big step up. The problem is, I’m not quite sure exactly what it all means. And I do have to wonder: am I really the right guy for this? Do I deserve this promotion? Who do I think I am, anyway?
Maybe I should I start acting like The Boss, take no crap from anyone, just let them know I’m The Boss and they’d better listen—or else!
But wait a minute—that doesn’t seem right. After all, just yesterday they were my buddies. I can’t just turn on them like that, it wouldn’t be right. In fact, here’s my chance to show them that I don’t think that I’m any better than they are just because I’ve gotten a raise and a promotion. That’s it! I’ll let them know that I’m still just one of the guys and I expect to be just like I always was. We can still be pals.
Hmmmm…that doesn’t seem quite right, either. After all, I did get that raise and my manager has been telling me that I’m supposed to oversee their work—make sure they’re doing OK, see to it they have everything they need to get their jobs done. It’s now it’s my responsibility, he says, to make sure that everything in the lab goes smoothly. And, if there’s a problem with one of the guys I have to get him back on track. That sounds a bit scary.
True, I was the fastest guy on the unit and made fewer mistakes than just about anyone. But most of the guys are OK, doing pretty good work. What right do I have to tell them how to perform? In fact, what right do I have to tell them anything?
I shouldn’t get too big for my britches. I may be the supervisor but, damn it, I’m just a regular guy, an ordinary person, trying to do the best I can!—except that, I did get picked to become the supervisor. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to act, how I’m supposed to feel. I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t even been promoted.
There’s a thin line between arrogance and self-confidence. And it can get blurry, too, between self-denigration and realistic humility. How should a newly appointed supervisor feel about his job, and about himself?
You can safely assume that your potential for promotion was carefully considered before it was decided upon. Your manager, and perhaps others (often including Human Resources Department personnel) observed you over some period of time and were satisfied that you could do the job—or they wouldn’t have promoted you. In itself, that fact should help you feel a bit more confident. While some self-doubt is healthy, and probably inevitable, you must realize that you are, in all likelihood, ready for the job.
While your technical readiness is easy to assess, your psychological readiness largely depends on your previous experience with authority figures, starting with your parents. Although we grow and mature and eventually come to reassess our early upbringings critically and realistically, the effects of our early childhood experience never completely leave us. We must try to be aware of how those earliest models of authority figures could lead to negative supervisory attitudes, For example: