Welcome to the Team Leader Skills

New to management? Recently promoted and now wondering what the crap you just got in to? Welcome to management. LOL. I went through the same thing a long time ago. While you may honestly wonder what you have gotten yourself into, you have also opened a new door of opportunity for your entire career. I want this blog to be a vehicle to help others, as well as myself. I do not have all of the answers and may actually ask more questions ;) I will also be posting some real life scenarios to see how others would have handled the situation.

First things first: Are you a leader or a manager? Leader's train, coach and develop people. Managers manage THINGS. I am not a manager, I am a team leader. Managers can also be referred to as baby sitters, micro-managers, and a myriad of other terms. If you want the people that you are guiding to respect you, then lead them. If you simply want to move up the chain and make more money, depending on your organization, then manage them.

Leadership roles are not for everyone; you must have some very tough, thick skin to perform this job. You can not allow yourself to become side tracked and must be able to prioritize on the fly. You will never be able to be all things to all people and will never satisfy everyone. You must do what is right for your company first as long as you can explain your reasoning. If you can not quantify your decision, then perhaps you need to re-examine how you arrived to your decision.

I welcome everyone's input and look forward to the discussion.