"How do I rise through the ranks as a manager?"

The difference between the 'good' and the 'great'

Aug 24, 2024

Goood morning team,

(Accidentally scheduled this early! So you’re seeing on a Saturday instead of a Tuesday morning)

I did a short video on this on Instagram last week, but I want to expand on it here, as it’s such an important topic that we can all practice together.

As managers, we’re no strangers to high pressure and challenges. And we often end up in highly emotional situations.

It could be that we’ve put our heart and soul into a price of work, for our own manager to turn round and say ‘no that’s not good’.

Or we’ve had a difficult conversation with our team that hasn’t ended well.

As managers, we’re privy to these difficult, emotionally triggering situations at work all the time.

But there is one thing I’ve noticed over the years that truly separates great leaders from the rest. One thing that differentiates a manager who will remain sort of a ‘middle management’ level, and those who will fly through the ranks, have huge impacts on our teams and the businesses, is this…

The ability to recognise when we’ve been emotionally triggered, and to create space before our response.

In high-pressure situations, our first instinct is to react immediately. Fight or flight. It’s a tale as old as time.

However, immediate responses, usually driven by heightened emotions, are usually not in the best interest of your team or your long-term goals. We:

Say things we don’t mean
We over-respond (write huge long messages or say a lot of words)
Feel more angry or annoyed in the moment
Feel overly excited or happy in the moment
Say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ hastily, then a few hours later start to think ‘actually', i’m not sure I want to do that'.

Instead, the key is to recognise when you’re in such a situation and consciously choose to pause.

There is huge power in your pause.

When you take a moment to breathe and reflect, you allow yourself to process the emotions involved and respond with clarity and purpose.

Pausing not only helps you make better decisions, but also sets a tone of thoughtful leadership for your team.

Let’s run through an example…

Consider the following scenario…

A team member makes a critical mistake on a big project.

If we react immediately, we’re of course frustrated, and whatever we say in that moment may potentially damage the relationship, the trust in our leadership and the employee’s confidence.

On the other hand, when we practice the pause, we would recognise we’re emotionally triggered, take a step back, probably chose to wait an hour, then come back to address the situation calmly.

Summary

For managers looking to rise through the ranks and make a lasting impact, mastering your pause is non-negotiable.

Who’s with me in practicing their pause at work this week?? Drop a 👍 emoji in the comments.

"How do I rise through the ranks as a manager?"

The difference between the 'good' and the 'great'

Let’s run through an example…

Summary

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