1. Never stop learning
    The best leaders try to learn something new from each day and each new experience. Find ways to make learning a priority like reading regularly, taking advantage of your organization’s learning and development resources, or focusing on one new skill each week.
  2. Get to know your team
    Understanding each member of your team so you can lead how they need to be led can make a huge difference. Exhibit empathy and try to learn how your team prefers to be managed, their communication styles, and how they best receive feedback. Knowing how your team thinks and operates can help you avoid misunderstandings and create a deeper sense of trust.
  3. Understand that role shifts can be difficult
    As a first-time manager, it’s likely that peers who you used to work alongside now report up to you. As roles shift, the way you interact with your former peers needs to be considered. Spending lots of time with existing work friends who now report to you can create feelings of favoritism and unrest throughout the rest of your team. Keep your work relationships in check and remember that with your new role comes new responsibilities. And while putting old work friendships at a reasonable distance isn’t fun, it can be important for creating a fair and comfortable workspace for your whole team.
  4. Find a mentor
    Mentorships have proven to create a career and financial opportunities for both mentors and mentees and increased productivity and retention rates for organizations. Ask your company if they offer any sort of internal mentorship opportunities. If not, find out which leaders in your organization you admire and ask if they’d be willing to mentor you.
  5. Ask for feedback
    Getting settled in a new role takes time. Ask those you work with for feedback so you can see where you’ve grown, and what areas you have more opportunity to improve in. Part of being a leader is being able to accept and take action on both positive and negative feedback. The sooner you become accustomed to this process, the better you’ll fare. The Verb platform has feedback tools that allow learners to solicit feedback from peers in real-time, but asking face-to-face or in your one-on-one meetings is always a valid option if your organization doesn’t have scalable tools to aid in this process.
  6. Set an example
    If you hold your team to high standards, make sure you’re living up to those same standards as their leader. Keep an open line of communication, show up to and participate in company events, never stop learning, and share the skills you develop with your team. As a new leader, it’s important to show your team that you’re there to support them and the company so they can do the same.