One of the forgotten challenges of a new leader is, how to handle those people who applied for the the position you were offered, but were unsuccessful.
Often they can feel resentful towards the new leader, can be uncooperative or just look to leave, which can then leave you will a gap in the teams required expertise, as these are likely to be some of the better people who were interviewed but were unsuccessful.
Obviously you want the company to have the best organisation possible, so you will want to keep the best people.
I would recommend that you treat them with respect and courtesy, and not go round gloating, making a big thing of your promotion, telling them you’re the best.
Be humble and gracious, no need to rub it in.
Cut your contenders a little slack and give them time to get over their disappointment, and work with them to make them key components of the team.
If there is any negativity, look to deal with it professionally, and in conjunction with management if needed.
It would not be a surprise if the leading contenders start to look for alternative opportunities, either in other departments or outside the company, because of their disappointment at not getting the job you’ve been promoted to, this is not uncommon.
So definitely think about succession planning in order to minimise the impact of any departures, and in fact you should have already started to think along those lines during the interview process.
Look to do a quick assessment of who might leave and how you would manage their replacement.
It’s tough to take a new leadership position, but even tougher when you lose part of your leadership team, so it’s better to be prepared.
Another possibility is mutiny.
Unfortunately, I have experienced this, I was promoted and someone felt they were better qualified, and even worse, the company didn’t interview them, and the result was that they worked against me trying to undermine my credibility and authority.
This was a challenge that I had to take head on, as people clearly saw my authority being challenged.
In this case you need to stand firm, you need to show that you’re in charge, if you let someone take you on and win, then you will struggle to lead the others.
This doesn’t mean you go out all guns blazing and make an example of them.
In fact you need to set the example, you need to show tolerance and a willingness to work with them, but also firmness.
You are the boss, there is no need to shout that, people already know, but you do need to stand firm and show you will not be undermined.
When this happened with me, I did everything I could.
I laughed about it and tried to ignore it; I tried to work with the person, showing understanding; but non of this worked, the person still insisted that they would not do what I wanted, and they were disruptive, and were causing a lot of trouble.
Eventually I moved them, sat them with others where their influence was a little bit less.
Ultimately I ended up having them come to the office every day at 8 to review their work. They were refusing to do what was asked of them; we needed this person, and I didn’t want to just fire them because they were popular.
So we would review the work daily ensuring they done what had been requested and I told them I would not pay for days where they didn’t do what was requested.
I was able to do this as they were a contractor. I stated this up front so it didn’t come as a surprise, but it also ensured that they didn’t put me in a position where I needed to refuse to pay for a day.
We met daily for about 2 weeks, they kept this up because he wanted to see if i would weaken, but I was prepared to stand firm, because I couldn’t afford to let them win.
Eventually they realised my resolve, that I was in charge and that I had the full support of the company, and finally they decided that they would toe the line.
This was a stressful experience, but one where I had to show my mettle.
I have also had situations where permanent staff just refused to work and tried undermined the strategy that were implementing.
Here I tried to give them interesting work and keep them too busy, but they were determined that they would look to complain and cause problems, and ultimately I had to let them go.
They were very popular and many people complained that I had let this person go, but I just explained that, although they were very good at their job, their negative contribution was too disruptive and was holding the department back, and that couldn’t be accepted.
I also explained that this person wasn’t happy and I had discussed it with them and there was nothing I could do to make them happy.
So the best solution was to let them go, and let them be happy somewhere else.
Life if too short to stay somewhere you’re not happy.
This is a topic that doesn’t really get much coverage, but it’s much more common than you might think, as it’s very rare that someone gets appointed to a leadership position without there being any competition for the role, whether they are interviewed or not.
Where there is competition there are always winners and losers, and we need to be able to deal with the losers, and look to try and keep them happy and a part our organisation.
It’s not always easy, but it is a challenge that we will have to deal with and one we should think about whilst applying for leadership roles, so that we are not taken by surprise.
Have you ever experienced this, if so I would love to hear you story, how you handled it, or how it impacted you.
Gordon Tredgold
Unfortunately, this happens all to often in the workplace. New leaders normally have only one chance to establish the culture of the workplace and how you interact with everyone, including those that were passed over for the position you now hold, will determine the effectiveness of the team, department or even the overall organization! It is important for the new leader to establish the lines of communication which includes overall performance expectations. While you will most likely have to fly through varying amounts of flack, in time an effective leader will build the team and gain commitment to the team goals and objectives. I have had experiences where I took over a team and not only were there people on the team who were passed over, I was significantly younger than they were! Fortunately, I had a wise mentor who knew what I was in for and he helped me through the tough times. After many discussions and attempts to bring one person that was being very disruptive back in to the fold of the productive team, I made the decision to let the person go. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t a popular decision because, as in your example, he too was well liked. It was what was best for the team; however, and it went a long way to establishing the culture of the team’s work environment. It also did much to establish my correct power base so that people knew that my actions were intended to better the team and it’s performance. The funny thing is, most people saw his termination coming and knew that his days were numbered because of his workplace behavior. A team wants and needs a strong leader who correctly reads the maturity of its members and who treat them fairly and with respect. As you said in a post a few days ago, most people want to do a good job and they want to be successful. New leaders will do well to tap the skill levels of their team to let them excel but cannot be afraid to make changes for the betterment of the overall team and organization!
Jim great comments and I fully agree with you. Teams want strong leaders who have the best interests of the team at heart
Yes, I had the happen to me. It was so horrible it was all I could do to make it from break to break periods. I worked with all woman as a cashier in retail setting mentored for a year or so then was moved into a managers position. I was bullied, talked about , made to feel incompetent, and continually had my judgment questioned on every policy. I searched every online sight for help. I asked work for help and they said it was normal and that they knew about the leering and not to let it bother me. So I just did the best I could and self talked positives over every situation and if I really wasn’t sure I asked. I think I know policies better than anyone so as I double checked everything because I knew what was coming in advance. I continually Resisted huge changes to any routines and stayed humble, I looked at it as a I was a territorial threat to they others and they thought I would sweep them away because I knew and saw their personality’s from both point of views and maybe was more personal with them before being their boss I knew secrets maybe I ought not know?? Anyways 1 year latter and I’m still confident and work my best and follow threw with my position. I look forward to projects that challenge me to grow more experience to move up to the next level. I have continued to have a positive outlook for more and next promotion and continue to read and gain wisdom from sites as this one. Thanks Michelle
this is something that as leaders we should take care of because if not we are setting people up to fail, but in reality it is we who have failed, we have failed to fill a position successfully, we have failed to prepare our preferred candidate and then we compound it by failing to support them.
Yes, thank goodness my husband has been a manager for over 20 years. I also had some others mentoring me a long the way.
This situation has also happened to me as I was promoted to lead my colleagues.
Initially that authority was hard to establish and I endured months of alienation and back chatting.
My motivation was my status of being a single mother and breadwinner.
I was able to draw boundaries and I led by example,on implementing changes I would involve all
Staff members to get their responses.To date I have 80% support from staff after 3 years.
I’m in the same situation Rita, its truly was unexpected that everything would flip upside down at my job I had been at for 6 years prior. It has been a challenge and really made me grow personally and professionally. Stick with your job set goals for growth and keep pressing forward even when it a dog eat dog world. I had to learn to blend diversity and unity with tactics of true care for my coworkers even when they dislike me I didn’t get personally offended. Diversity and unity blended = university and that all learned from experience at times.
Sad to hear this tale Michelle, but sadly its not uncommon, which makes me wonder why managers who have been through this don’t take care of those who follow them, its not a passage of rites. One thing to remember and you point this out is that its not about you, its about them, and if you can remember that then it can help you to not take it too personally, although when they are being personal about you its difficult.
They are probing for weakness and looking to bring you down a peg.
One of the worst jobs i had was when i was promoted and immediately asked to stamp out lunchtime drinking. My boss didn’t have the balls to do it, and he said as i knew everyone better than he did and i used to drink with them, it would be easy for me.
But he told everyone this was my idea, not his.
Fortunately the team knew me well enough and i said lunchtime drinking was fine, but if anyone drunk more than the legal lilt to drive 2 pints, then i wouldn’t send them home as they were not fit to work, which they accepted and we found a good compromise.
Great courage Rita, and i think 80% is an excellent result, there is always some percentage who have to disagree with the boss, its just the nature of power and jealousy
Rita, thanks for sharing your experiences, I think these are valuable lessons for new leaders to learn from.