One of the most difficult challenges facing newly promoted executives is managing former peers.Michael Watkins aptly titled it "relationship reengineering" in his excellent book, "Your Next Move." The need for relationship reengineering is a critical crossroads every executive faces, more than once, as s/he moves up the corporate ladder.Every executive coach will tell you that your performance will be judged, in part, by your ability to successfully navigate the emotional fallout and reaction of your former peers to your promotion. Find more details at executive leadership coaching. Here are tips for successfully leading former peers:· Get the word out early on. If your boss, who might also be newly promoted, did not communicate your promotion prior to your stepping into the role, you need to act fast. Gather your new staff and deliver a brief, in-person announcement. Prepare a script ahead of time. Say you're looking forward to your new role, working with each of them, and the contributions you know they can make. Mention that you want to build a good team and the success of the company is foremost in your mind.· Schedule one-on-one meetingswith each staff member. Solicit their feedback and listen to their concerns. Then reassure each individual that you have heard them and will continue to be open to their suggestions for bettering the team.· Dealing with the angry/disgruntled employee takes finesse and sensitivity. If a former peer coveted the job you have, you might be dealing with this individual's anger, depression and jealousy. These negative emotions can affect the morale of your entire staff unless deftly handled.This individual might just need time to accept the situation and then evolve into a good team member. In that case, just watch and wait. However, if you sense the reluctance of this individual to get on-board, you will have to have an honest conversation with this person, including documenting it for the file.· Don't play favorites. If you enjoyed a friendship-like relationship with a former peer, that dynamic will change. In order to be perceived as being fair to everyone on your staff, you can't give special consideration to a former peer. To do otherwise would be considered playing favorites.· Establish your authority quickly. As Michael Watkins put it "you might be tempted to act as a super peer- continuing to coach, counsel and empower your former peers despite the title change." That approach would be a mistake. Instead, listen to suggestions and get input, but then quickly decide your course of action. Trying to establish consensus at this point in your tenure would signal weakness. Consensus comes later, when your staff knows you have firmly stepped into your new role and have established your authority.If you learn the lessons of supervising former peers early on - surely one of the most difficult tasks facing a new leader - it will be less of a daunting challenge the next time around.    Details on our webpage under this link.       



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