Instead of promising you quick ‘n easy answers, this new manager checklist probes deeper with 4 questions to help you become better as a leader.

You want the answer. The silver bullet, the trick, the hack, the leadership best practice, the new manager checklist. Thereâs got to be some secret point of leverage that you donât yet know about to becoming a better leader⌠It has to be out there, right?
Weâre obsessed with wanting to know the answer. The 1â2â3 steps to follow so we can right our wrongs and make progress faster.
Yet when it comes to becoming a better leader, Iâm not convinced thereâs is one. Scholars can hardly agree on the definition of leadership, alone. As Ralph Stogdill famously wrote in 1974, âthere are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.â
Perhaps the sheer number of articles Iâve written on this blog is further proof of the variance and nuance involved in figuring out how to become a better manager. Sure, Iâve shared stories, data, and insights. But Iâll be the first to admit that none of what Iâve written contains some singular, sweeping answer to the question, âHow do I become a better manager?â
Rather, I think any attempt at an âanswerâ to becoming a better leader lies in the questions we can ask ourselves along the way. Weâre each vastly different, operating in distinct environments, interacting with unique people and dynamics and obstacles. The âanswerâ is more complex than any new manager checklist could hope to capture.
So, Iâve got a different kind of new manager checklist for you. Rather than providing answers, Iâve got questionsâââfour in particular. Questions to ask yourself that reveal what action you need to take, what shift in mindset you need to make. From the thousands of leaders who use Know Your Team and the many leaders Iâve chatted with on my podcast and beyond, itâs an accumulation of the best questions theyâve asked themselves. I hope youâll find your own answers to them.
Question #1: How can I create an environment for people to do their best work?
A leader doesnât shape peopleâââa leader shapes an environment. This distinction is critical. When youâre focused on influencing an environment instead of people, you concentrate your efforts on the inputs within your control: How you communicate priorities, the decisions you make, the gestures of care and support you show. You no longer try to manipulate inputs outside of your control, and that frankly donât matter: How a team member chooses to accomplish a task, or if a team member likes you. Youâre not as susceptible to letting fear or your ego get in the way of serving your team.
Question #2: How can I create as much clarity and coherence about what needs to get done and why?
The vision, the mission, the goals are crystal clear to you. But are they only for you? đ Remember that no one can read your mind, and youâre the one person on the team whose job it is to say where youâre trying to go, and why getting there is important. Reflect on how youâre communicating the long-term vision of the team, and how itâs relevant and connected to your team. Yes, the work is meaningful to youâââbut how is it meaningful to each individual team member?
Question #3: How can I personally model the behavior I want to be true across my team?
You canât expect your team to behave in a certain way if you donât exemplify those actions yourself. Want your team to be on time for meetings? Consider how on-time you typically are yourself. Want your team to give you more honest feedback? Consider how honest you are in the feedback you give, and how you react when they share tough feedback with you. When you walk the walk, instead of paying lip service to platitudes, you earn the trust and respect of my team. Trust and respect are only earned, after all.
Question #4: How can I see things for what they are, instead of what I want them to be?
Our biggest problems as leaders arise when didnât realize that the problem was going to become a problem. We were blindsided. Our model of reality didnât match reality, itself. Rigorously examining what is actually trueââârather than grasping for what weâd like to be trueâââis how we avoid being surprised by a key team member leaving, or when team memberâs performance starts to suffer. As management theorist Peter Senge wrote in The Fifth Discipline: âThe most effective people are those who can âholdâ their vision while remaining committed to seeing current reality clearly.â
Try asking yourself these questions every now and then. Perhaps before you head into your new job as a manager. Or, reflect on these questions at the end of the month, or every week⌠maybe even building up to asking them at the end of every day.
They can serve as different kinds of new manager checklist: A personal reference point for new things to discover about yourself and new commitments to make to yourself to become the leader youâve always wanted to be.
Deeper learning comes from this inquiryâââposing questions, instead of imposing answers.
Finding your own answer is where the real answer is.
đ To help you find your *own* answer as a leader, we created Know Your Team. Our software helps you nail the fundamentals of leadership: We help you run effective one-on-one meetings, get honest feedback, share team progress, and build team rapport. Try Know Your Team to find your own answer, as a leader, today.
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