Geek to Manager

In this chapter we discussed the transitions of becoming a leader/manager. In order to become a leader and new manager, there are a lot of things that you have to  let go of and things you have to know. For instance in the book it begins with the statement that new managers have no idea what they are getting into. This statement is debatable for me because I do not necessarily think that new managers have no idea what they are getting into. There has to be some idea, you know as a manager that you have to be a leader, you have to know the qualifications of what it takes to be a leader/manager. Also when becoming a manager you are in a specific job/career, and you should know some of the things that you have to do for that specific company, so I do not think that new managers have no idea what they are getting into. The book goes onto say that there are four essential skills for new managers, they consist of letting go of doing, knowing what managers do, measuring managerial success, and crossing boundaries. I can relate to the letting go of doing skill due to the fact that it is something that is hard for me to do when I am doing something new. I tend to bring on what I knew before to a new task, and it can be very confusing. Next for the knowing what managers do skill it basically states that when you lead people, not things or tasks. There are things that you need to ask yourself such as do you have a plan, have you identified and nurtured leadership potential on your team and also are you helping to clarify goals, roles, and processes. The next skill is measuring managerial success, in this skill there are indicators of successful management such as getting things done, having issues resolved, having people engaged with their work and also with each other.

When thinking about taking on a new role as a leader/manager, it is not as easy as it seems and that is what this book explains to us. Even though I do not agree with some of the things I do believe that following the steps in the book will definitely help someone in their new position as a leader and manager. I can relate to this book because I remember a time when I had to take on a leadership role at my church, and I was in charge of the kids. Now I had some experience with kids because I am a aunt but just because I had some experience I still had to learn more things and let go of some of the things that I new before, because this was a different position than just babysitting my nephews, I was in charge of more kids and had to take on new tasks.

I like how the books sums up the chapter and says that you have to approach becoming a leader and manager with humility and an open mind. I agree with that because you are taking a new role, you have to know that you are now in charge, you have people looking up to you and waiting for the next move that you are going to make. You have to let go of some of the old things that you used to do, and be willing to learn more and do more in your role as a leader. It is a big transition, but it is nothing that you cannot handle, it will take a lot of work.