Manager: It’s a workplace role many aspire to.
For some it’s about the money; for others, a sign of accomplishment or something they can brag about at their class reunion.
Still others want to make a difference in the lives of their team, or in their employer’s fortunes.
“When I was offered a management role at the health club I was working at, I thought it was something I could easily handle, so I said ‘Yes’ right away,” said Donna Lubrano, a Boston resident.
She had just graduated with a master’s degree in international business from Boston University and couldn’t find a job, so had leaned on her side hustles — personal training and group fitness instruction.
She didn’t think adding managerial responsibilities to those jobs would be overwhelming.
For the first month it wasn’t, but the honeymoon period ended abruptly when she was told to cut the exercise class schedule in half and to fire several instructors — people she had been working with side-by-side since she started her job there.
“I went from being one of the team to becoming the hatchet person,” she said. “Nothing had prepared me for this. I wouldn’t have accepted the promotion if I had known what I was going to be forced to do.”
Becoming a manager isn’t always easy.
Instead of being responsible only for your work, you become responsible for the job satisfaction and work of others.
Chances are that you have a new boss to report to, budgets to handle, employees to supervise, projects to deliver on and politics to navigate.
“It can be difficult, especially if you haven’t had training or been given the opportunity to test your skills,” said Jim Fielding, an executive whose résumé includes job titles like Disney and Fox Studios president and author — his new book “All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically” (Wiley) is the autobiography of a leader who makes it in business without sacrificing his soul or ideals.
However, many of the newly promoted do have to fly by the seat of their pants.
Less than one-third of managers have ever received formal management training and less than 17% have received training from their current employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A study by ADP found that only 3.8% of workers upskill within two years of being hired.
Jordan Karr, manager of business development at software maker Ironclad in Soho, didn’t have a hard time adjusting when he stepped into a managerial position.
The Midtown resident took interactive classes from platforms like Hone Training, and he’s also had informal mentors.
Yet, “most of what I have learned, I have learned on the job,” said Karr, adding that his management skills come from previous bosses where he learned to manage a budget.
Besides, “I’m always sharpening the knife — reading sales and marketing books, listening to podcasts,” he said.
Karr credits much of his managerial success from knowing how to hire the right people, being available to his team and keeping a close watch on the numbers.
“I think a lot of being a good manager is intuitive,” he said.
Still, Karr hasn’t had the benefit of extensive, formal training like Fielding, who entered a six-month management training program right out of college.
“It provided me with a solid foundation,” he said.
In his first job at Dayton Hudson, Fielding learned everything from store operations to buying, acquiring not only the hard skills but also the philosophies that can help you succeed — such as, you can recover from mistakes “as long as you wake up the following day striving to do better.”
For former Netflix executive Michelle P. King, her first job as manager came with no training. “I felt unsure of myself,” she said.
That was compounded by the way she was treated by some of the men in her office.
“One threw me a towel in the office kitchen and told me to clean up,” she said, one of the moments that inspired King to become a researcher and author.
Her second book, “How Work Works: The Subtle Science of Getting Ahead Without Losing Yourself” (HarperCollins), is out this fall.
“The future of work is about building our own employability. We have to learn to work [on our own],” said King, suggesting that we shouldn’t rely on our employers to provide training, since “most of learning happens on the job,” she said.
This means taking on new things, using trial and error as a way to learn, looking for informal sources of advice and feedback and delivering our best every day.
And if we blow it? “That doesn’t make me a bad person. I shouldn’t internalize the experience. Instead, I need to learn and find an opportunity to give it another go,” she said.
Meanwhile, “If your employer isn’t providing you with management or leadership training, and it is something you want, find a class and ask if they will pay for it,” said Fielding.
Certificate programs are offered by universities like NYU Stern, Wharton and SUNY, and by organizations like the American Management Association.
Classes are also available on the web via platforms like LinkedIn Learning ($39.99 per month).
Coaching is another alternative, and available from sources such as Sounding Board, Korn Ferry, select members of the International Coaching Federation and others.
