Over the years, I’ve worked with people who have been promoted into senior leadership positions and need some help adjusting to their new roles. Many of them have advanced from managerial jobs, but something just isn’t quite right in their new capacity.

The essence of these challenges is that these people haven’t moved forward with their promotions. For example, recently promoted senior level managers still operate from a mindset of middle management.

Coaching through some of these issues can be challenging because they don’t see themselves as different from how they were in the old roles.

That may be true. But their leaders, their peers and their direct reports (and below) view them in their senior capacity, so some re-learning needs to happen. Here are some of the “truths” that emerge in these situations.

* You won’t have time to meet with everyone one-on-one because your organizational reach is larger. Even though this may worry you, most people won’t expect you to be as accessible as you may have been previously. * You can’t expect everyone to like you. Strive for respect, and you’ll adjust faster.

* The more senior you are the more meetings take over your calendar. In fact, you may begin to wonder who “owns” your calendar. Make sure you block time for yourself to catch up and, frankly, to think.

* You’re playing a new game. Get to know your peers so you won’t be surprised at a senior leadership meeting.

* If your direct leader isn’t accessible, don’t worry. Do your job well, and don’t expect him or her to vet every major decision that you make. People will look to you to make these decisions.

The playing field changes with your promotion and you need to change with it. This isn’t about changing who you are; it’s about adapting to the new role.

“Where there is no imagination there is no horror.”
– Arthur Conan Doyle

Header image by Sora Shimazaki/Pexels.