Coming Up in June: The New Leader

Share your biggest questions about stepping into leadership – or your hard-won advice

Image from 16personalities.com

We’re partway through May’s Mastering 1:1 Meetings series – but before we get any further in, I wanted to give you a heads-up on what’s coming next.

The first time you step into a leadership role, something interesting happens. You suddenly realize that the things that made you great as an individual contributor aren’t necessarily the things that will make you great as a leader.

And often, you’re left to figure out how to lead well on your own, through trial and error.

So in June, we’re going to spend the month on The New Leader – a series for first-time leaders who are stepping into management and trying to figure out how to lead people well.

This topic came in as an anonymous submission from our Leadership Council, and the moment I read it, I knew I wanted to dig in.

Even if you’ve been leading for years, I think you’ll find plenty to take away from this series – especially if you’re newer to personality-driven leadership, or if you mentor people who are stepping into their first management role.

I’m still shaping the direction of this series, and I’d love your help deciding where to focus.

If you feel comfortable sharing, drop your questions or thoughts in the comments using any of these prompts – or just speak from your own experience.

I’ve opened up commenting on this post so everyone can respond.

If you’re new to leadership (or relatively new):

• What are the biggest, most pressing questions on your mind right now?

• Where are you struggling, or where do you feel out of your depth?

• What do you wish someone had told you before your first day in the role?

If you’re a more experienced leader:

• What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give a new leader today?

• What do you wish the new leaders you mentor knew when they first stepped into the role?

• Looking back, what’s the thing you got wrong early on that you’d want to spare someone else?

I read every response, and what you share will directly shape where this series goes in June.

And if you have a leadership topic you’d love to see covered in the future, all paying subscribers are invited to join the Leadership Council, where you can submit ideas directly – just like the one that sparked this series.

I’m really looking forward to this one. The transition into leadership is one of those things that looks straightforward from the outside and feels like a totally different job from the inside.

There’s so much we don’t talk about – the imposter syndrome, the relationships that shift overnight, the strange grief of leaving your old role behind, the new weight of being responsible for someone else’s growth.

We’ll get into whatever you’d like to focus on in June.

But for now, we’re back to the Mastering 1:1 Meetings series with a look at how Diplomat leaders can lead productive 1:1s for all personality types – see you there!

Until next time,

Carly from the 16Personalities team