71: [Ask Halelly] How to develop and cultivate new managers and leaders with Halelly Azulay

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ep71 Ask Halelly how to develop and cultivate new managers and leaders on the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay

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Description: We’re experimenting with a new format – Ask Halelly – where I respond to questions I get asked by listeners, audience members, workshop participants, members of the media, and more. In this inaugural episode of the Ask Halelly format, I answer a three-part question about developing and cultivating new managers and leaders, especially young ones. I suggest three specific non-training methods to support their skill development on the cheap, what to look for when deciding whom to promote, and what company leaders should know about developing new managers (and the worst thing they can do – which is, unfortunately, extremely common). Take a listen now and please share your feedback, submit a question for a future Ask Halelly episode, or make a suggestion for what or whom you want to hear more about or from!

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Hey TalentGrowers. Welcome back. This is a new different kind of episode of the TalentGrow Show. If you've listened in the past you know that the typical format is a conversation between myself and an expert. I’m definitely going to continue having those episodes on the TalentGrow Show -- in fact, they’ll probably be the majority.

But in 2018, as you may know, I have decided to take a bold move and double my output. Which means I’m moving from a two-episodes-a-month format to a weekly format.

So, I thought that this is a perfect opportunity to experiment with some new types and formats of episodes. Therefore, in addition to the regular 30-ish minute interviews, I’ll add some new types of episodes.

(By the way, I would really enjoy hearing your suggestions for what other types I should do!)

With this episode I'll introduce a particular format called "Ask Halelly". Ask Halelly will feature some questions that I have been asked by workshop participants, members of the media, voicemail messages left on my website – which I hope that you will also leave for me – and emails or comments on social media.

People ask me questions all the time related to how to develop leaders, how to be a good leader (the kind of leader people want to follow), how to become a better communicator at work, and how to develop your career and yourself.

So this will allow me to answer these questions and help you grow your own leadership, communication, networking, and career skills and knowledge! 

I’d love to hear what you thought about it, so please engage with me:

  • If you have feedback about this episode, let me know.
  • If you have a question for me to consider for a future episode, I would love to hear it. I would love to actually hear your voice, which you can record for me as a voice mail right here on the site! (see that black tab on the right hand side?) Then, if you give me permission, I can actually play your voice as I introduce the question in a future Ask Halelly episode! (Wouldn’t that be cool to hear yourself on the TalentGrow Show?)
  • And of course, if you have suggestions for guests or topics, this is exactly what I want to know. You’re the listener, this show is for you.

Okay, let’s dig right in to episode 71, the first Ask Halelly episode!

Today, I answer a three-part question about how to develop new managers. How do you know whom to promote, and then how do you help them grow?

This is exactly what I do for a living. I consult to organizations who want to create a thoughtful and strategic approach to developing their leaders. I also facilitate workshops around the country and the world where I help to build those skills.

Q: Hi Halelly, what are some ways to cultivate new managers, especially young ones or first-time managers? What are some skills to look for when looking to promote people from the rank and file? And what do company leaders need to know about developing new managers?

A: Great questions! Let me answer them one at a time:

  1. Ways to cultivate new managers, especially young ones or first-time managers:

    Give them hands-on leadership and management experiences in safe contexts and provide them with an opportunity to get immediate developmental feedback and iterate. I enumerated many methods for developing leaders and employees outside the classroom in my book, Employee Development on a Shoestring, but for these aspiring managers some of my top recommendations would be to encourage them to find a mentor; to suggest they find a volunteer leadership role with a non-profit organization where they can hone their skills and transfer them back to the job at no expense to the employer; and encourage them to take on leadership roles in special teams or projects.

    [I described these three methods in this vlog.]
     
  2. Skills to look for when promoting people to first time manager roles:

    Promote for passion for the organization’s mission, values that align with the organization’s values, and character traits like commitment, dedication, and curiosity. The skills and competencies for leadership can be learned, but usually the right attitude will get them there better and faster. The least effective reason to promote someone, albeit the most common one, is technical expertise and/or longevity on the team.
     
  3. What company leaders need to know about developing new managers:

    New managers are often thrown in to ‘sink or swim’, which is a big mistake and a waste of potential. The idea of cultivating and nurturing them (asking these questions above and giving it consideration) is spot on. Like anything else, we learn by getting some input on best-practices from people who already know the way, trying on the new skills and ‘getting messy’ in the process, making mistakes and getting supportive developmental feedback, and getting back in and trying to apply our lessons right away. That means company leaders need to provide ‘learning playground’ opportunities, encourage the ongoing feedback with mentors and coaches, and tolerate mistakes as a good and necessary part of learning.

YOUR TURN:

First – what did you think of this episode format? And with what other formats should I experiment?

Would you like to submit a question for a future “Ask Halelly” episode? You can use the voice messaging widget right here on the website and then I can even play your audio (with your permission, of course) on the episode! Or you can send me an email, or a ‘contact us’ form on this site, or a comment-based question, or a tweet…. You get the picture. Anyway you like it, I would love to hear your question!

Finally – what other people or topics would you like me to feature on future episodes? Let me know!

You’re a major part of the success of this podcast, and you are the primary beneficiary of its improvement, so I need to hear from you!

Click on that little black tab on the right-hand side on any page of this website and easily record a voice message to me. Remember, you can record a suggestion, question, and/or feedback message. (And I will not use your voice or name unless you give me explicit permission, by the way.) And of course you can also email me, Halelly AT TalentGrow DOT com.

I’d love to hear from you. I’m glad are here for this episode and for the ride of 2018.

I’m Halelly Azulay, your leadership development strategist here at TalentGrow, and this is the TalentGrow Show. I am so excited to have you with me and I thank you for listening.

Until the next time, make today great!

RESOURCES:

  • Get your very own copy of my book, Employee Development on a Shoestring – it features 11 different employee and leader development methods that don’t require training and are not expensive or complicated! Get it now on Amazon, ATD’s bookstore, and all major online book retailers.
  • Have a look/listen to this ‘vlog’ post about the three leadership development suggestions I covered here – I give some additional information about them on this video: Developing leadership skills outside classroom by Halelly Azulay
  • Check out the TalentGrow Show on C-Suite Radio
  • Like the Facebook page of The TalentGrow Show!
  • Join the Facebook group – The TalentGrowers Community! Share your advice, your progress, your successes and your challenges and questions. Interact with other listeners and with me. Let’s support each other in becoming the kind of leader that people *want* to follow!
  • Download the 10 Mistakes Leaders Make and How to Avoid Them free tool
  • Intro/outro music for The TalentGrow Show: "Why-Y" by Esta - a great band of exquisitely talented musicians, and good friends of mine

About Halelly Azulay

Have we met? I'm Halelly Azulay. I'm an author, speaker, facilitator, and leadership development strategist and an expert in leadership, communication skills, and emotional intelligence. I am the author of two books, Employee Development on a Shoestring (ATD Press) and Strength to Strength: How Working from Your Strengths Can Help You Lead a More Fulfilling Life. My books, workshops and retreats build on my 20+ years of professional experience in communication and leadership development in corporate, government, nonprofit and academic organizations.

I am the president of TalentGrow LLC, a consulting company focused on developing leaders and teams, especially for enterprises experiencing explosive growth or expansion. TalentGrow specializes in people leadership skills, which include communication skills, teambuilding, coaching and emotional intelligence. TalentGrow works with all organizational levels, including C-level leaders, frontline managers, and individual contributors.

People hire me to speak at conferences and meetings and to facilitate leadership workshops, but what I love most is to help fast growing organizations create a leadership development strategy and approach.

I'm a contributing author to numerous books, articles and blogs. I was described as a “Leadership Development Guru” by TD Magazine. I blog, publish a leadership podcast (um, hello?! ;) ), and have a popular free weekly subscription newsletter – so you should definitely sign up at www.tinyurl.com/talentgrow.

Transcript

Announcer: Welcome to the TalentGrow Show, where you can get actionable results-oriented insight and advice on how to take your leadership, communication and people skills to the next level and become the kind of leader people want to follow. And now, your host and leadership development strategist, Halelly Azulay.

Halelly: Hey TalentGrowers. Welcome back. This is another episode of the TalentGrow Show and it’s a new one, a new different kind is what I mean. The typical format that you’re used to is me and an expert of some type, having a conversation. And I’m definitely going to continue having those episodes on the TalentGrow Show. They’re probably going to be the majority of episodes. But in 2018, as you know – this is being released the third week of 2018 – I have decided to take a bold move and double my output. Which means I’m moving from a two-episodes-a-month format to a weekly format. I thought that I would take the opportunity to experiment with some new types and formats of episodes. So in addition to the regular 30-ish minute interview, I’m going to be adding some new ones, and this one is one of those.

I’m Halelly Azulay, your leadership development strategist here at TalentGrow, in case you’re new. Welcome! If you are a long-time listener, thank you for listening, and I really, really want to hear your feedback regardless. Because this is where you come in. You help me tailor this show to meet your needs, and to be perfect. Well, not perfect. Perfect is not so good. But really great. So I’m going to try with this episode to introduce to you a format called Ask Halelly. Ask Halelly will feature some questions that I have been asked by workshop participants, by members of the media, by people leaving me a voicemail on my website – which I hope that you will do – by people sending me emails or comments on social media. Where people ask me a question about things related to my expertise, which is how to develop leaders, how to be a good leader, the kind of leader people want to follow, how to become a better communicator at work and how to develop your career and yourself. I will then provide a brief answer to that question.

I’d love to hear what you thought about it, so please engage with me. I need to hear from you. If you have feedback about this episode, let me know. If you have a question for me to consider for a future episode, I would love to. And in fact, I would love to hear your voice, if you leave me a voice mail and give me your permission, I can use your audio segment to introduce the question, actually in your voice. Wouldn’t that be cool to hear yourself on the TalentGrow Show? Then of course, if you have suggestions for guests or topics, this is exactly what I want to hear from you. You’re the listeners, this show is for you. So, I will remind you at the end to do that, but in the meantime, let’s dig right in to episode 71, the first Ask Halelly episode.

This is a three-part question I was asked recently, and it’s about how to develop new managers. How do you know whom to promote, and then how do you help them grow? This is exactly what I do for a living. I consult to organizations who want to create a thoughtful and strategic approach to developing their leaders. I also do, of course, a lot of workshops around the country and around the world, where I help to build those skills.

Q: Hi Halelly, what are some ways to cultivate new managers, especially young ones or first-time managers? What are some skills to look for when looking to promote people from the rank and file? And what do company leaders need to know about developing new managers? A:. Great questions! Let me answer them one at a time:

  1. Ways to cultivate new managers, especially young ones or first-time managers Give them hands-on leadership and management experiences in safe contexts and provide them with an opportunity to get immediate developmental feedback and iterate. I enumerated many methods for developing leaders and employees outside the classroom in my book, Employee Development on a Shoestring, but for these aspiring managers some of my top recommendations would be to encourage them to find a mentor; to suggest they find a volunteer leadership role with a non-profit organization where they can hone their skills and transfer them back to the job at no expense to the employer; and encourage them to take on leadership roles in special teams or projects. [I described these three methods in this vlog.]
  2. Skills to look for when promoting people to first time manager roles Promote for passion for the organization’s mission, values that align with the organization’s values, and character traits like commitment, dedication, and curiosity. The skills and competencies for leadership can be learned, but usually the right attitude will get them there better and faster. The least effective reason to promote someone, albeit the most common one, is technical expertise and/or longevity on the team.
  3. What company leaders need to know about developing new managers New managers are often thrown in to ‘sink or swim’, which is a big mistake and a waste of potential. The idea of cultivating and nurturing them (asking these questions above and giving it consideration) is spot on. Like anything else, we learn by getting some input on best-practices from people who already know the way, trying on the new skills and ‘getting messy’ in the process, making mistakes and getting supportive developmental feedback, and getting back in and trying to apply our lessons right away. That means company leaders need to provide ‘learning playground’ opportunities, encourage the ongoing feedback with mentors and coaches, and tolerate mistakes as a good and necessary part of learning.

YOUR TURN: First – what did you think of this episode format? And with what other formats should I experiment? Would you like to submit a question for a future “Ask Halelly” episode? You can use the voice messaging widget right here on the website and then I can even play your audio (with your permission, of course) on the episode! Or you can send me an email, or a ‘contact us’ form on this site, or a comment-based question, or a tweet…. You get the picture. Anyway you like it, I would love to hear your question! Finally – what other people or topics would you like me to feature on future episodes? Let me know!

You’re a major part of the success of this podcast, and you are the primary beneficiary of its improvement, so I need to hear from you. On the website, on TalentGrow.com, first of all you can see the show notes for this episode which is in the podcast section: TalentGrow.com/podcast/episode71. But also, on any page of my website, there is a tab on the right-hand side that allows you to click and record a voice message to me. This is one of the best ways to get in touch with me. You can record a message with your suggestion, with your question, with your feedback. And of course you can email me, Halelly AT TalentGrow DOT com. I’d love to hear from you. So I’m glad that you came along for this episode and for the ride of 2018. I’m Halelly Azulay, your leadership development strategist here at TalentGrow, and this is the TalentGrow Show. I am so excited to have you with me and I thank you for listening. Until the next time, make today great.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to the TalentGrow Show, where we help you develop your talent to become the kind of leader that people want to follow. For more information, visit TalentGrow.com.