Making the Leap from Achiever to Leader

How many times have we seen an achievement oriented, technically sound employee get that big promotion to manager and then struggle to find firm footing on this new  ground? A different set of skills is required to be a successful leader, compared to the skills necessary to be the task oriented achiever. The secret is learning to understand how to achieve through others… not just achieve through themselves. As I have worked with many HiPos (employees with high potential) through my coaching and through the LSU Executive Development Program, I have come to understand the single biggest obstacle to making the leap from achiever to leader: changing the mindset of the achiever.

Before taking on the mantle of leadership, the employee’s success was evaluated on getting things done. Executing, hitting deadlines, and production was the focus. Achievement was reinforced in every way…recognition, compensation, and rewards. The employee develops a nearly myopic focus on tasks that are frequently done independently of others and are accomplished under the watchful eye of the supervisor. The brain becomes hardwired to achieve.

Now the paradigm shifts: their achievement is rewarded with a promotion requiring achievement through others. Yes, many new competencies require further development for success: emotional intelligence, people skills, conflict resolution, and having those crucial conversations…among many other skills. But before those new skills can be fully developed and deployed, the new leader must understand their success will be evaluated with a different yard stick. They must change what they believe, to change how they behave. They need to become a leader, not just an achiever.

The single most important strategy any company must take is to align the critical skills, competencies, and outcomes desired of the new leader… with the new leader. How success will be measured must become congruent for both the new leader and their employer. While this is only the beginning, it is a critical first step in making the leap to leader.  The achiever’s mindset must change for their actions to follow.

Are you in alignment with the expectations of success with your employer? Have you aligned your expectations with your employees?  Are you “singing off the same sheet of music?”