Whether you are a new manager taking on your first management position, or a seasoned professional taking the next step up the management/executive hierarchy, there are four things you must find out right away when you are about to take on a new role.

1. What is the real definition of your job?

The key information you will need in order to really understand what you are taking on and what is expected of you is not as easy to find as you might think. While you may have seen a written job description (e.g., a job ad or human resources-developed "job description") these usually provide only the most rudimentary information. Job ads are often full of buzz words, and job descriptions are frequently out of date, referencing lists of required duties that were appropriate for different/earlier stages of the company's history. Thus for example, Linda who was hired as a Product Manager discovered that her formal written job description referenced several tasks relevant to supporting corporate acquisitions - yet her company had not made any major acquisitions in the past several years and was not planning any acquisitions for the foreseeable future.

When smaller companies or companies with a less formal organizational structure write job descriptions for newly-created management positions they are trying to fill, they often have not thought through the tasks required. For example, when Kelley was promoted to the position of Office Manager at a medical clinic, she nearly burned herself out because her written job description implied that she must serve as the "backup person" expected to "fill in" for each of the people who reported to her when they were sick or on vacation. The bad news was that 15 people reported to her! Clearly her company had not thought through the implications of this requirement.

Some companies simply have no formal job descriptions. Sometimes this is by choice and sometimes a result of neglect.

The real answer to the question of what your job will actually entail requires that you ferret out and piece together answers to the following questions:

What is Your Title?
Titles can draw attention to those who have power and those who don't. Look to see if it is obvious from your title that you will be serving in a management role. The titles Group Head, Section Head, Department Head/Manager, and Division Head/ Manager are typical corporate titles for line managers that have employees directly reporting to them. The titles Project Manager and Program Manager also usually imply that you will be managing others, although sometimes only on a project (not long-term) basis. However, other titles can be misleading. For example, Product "Managers" often have no direct reports, Sales "Managers" might manage no one but themselves, and the term Principal Engineer sometimes refers to a management position and sometimes to a technical position.

Who Do You Report To?
Your prestige is partly determined by the status of the person to whom you report. This may have very real implications for what meetings you are invited to attend and what information and exposure you get.

Who Reports to You?
Do you have direct reports? Are you in charge of assigning their tasks, developing their talents, and performing their reviews? It is human nature that people are responsive to those who have direct control over their assignments, future, and salary. It is usually much easier to get things done when you have resources that report directly to you.

What are you responsible for?
Find out what things you are responsible to make happen. What "bucks" stop at your desk? You may find some initial clues in your written job description (if there is one). Sometimes you can find out these things by asking (e.g., your boss or prior incumbents of your job), or glean clues by looking at how your performance will be evaluated (e.g., the measures of success that will be applied; the performance evaluation forms and process that will be used in your review).

What is important to those above you?
What are your boss's priorities? How is your boss evaluated? What are priorities of your boss's boss and how is he/she evaluated? What are the company priorities? As a manger it will be critical that your objectives and priorities are in alignment with those who occupy the levels above you in the hierarchy. At the highest levels, company executives are concerned with company viability and shareholder value. At the lower levels of management these objectives translate into a focus on the bottom line (i.e., priority is given to tasks that increase revenue and profit or decrease expenses).

2. Why did the person before you leave?

The answer to this question can help you formulate a plan of action. Thus, for example, if the person who previously occupied the position you are moving into was promoted, examine closely the level of their new position. This may reveal something about the way your company envisions your growth path. Also, if you can find out how long the prior incumbent occupied your position (6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 10 years?), you may catch a glimpse of how fast your rise in the company is likely to be, and strategize accordingly.

If the person you are taking over from was "let go", see if you can find out why. Although this information may be a closely guarded secret, and it is usually not politic to ask directly, sometimes you will be able to get a hint from listening to casual comments made by your peers or your boss. Here is a revealing example. Tom was a Product Manger who discovered that the manager before him had been let go and was considered a failure because he had allowed himself to be overwhelmed by the tasks he had taken on. This alerted Tom to the fact that he needed to quickly identify his priority tasks and divest his position of several non-critical tasks that had come to be associated with it only because the prior manager had taken them on. He did this divestiture gracefully over a period of time, by delegating some tasks and reframing or redefining others.

If you discover that the position you are moving into is newly created, chances are that the definition of your job is sketchy and that you will have some considerable freedom in defining the nature of your job and what responsibilities you take on.

3. Do you have the power and authority you need to be effective?

Unfortunately the power and authority you need to excel do not always come with your new job or new title. To succeed in your new position you need to have the authority to make relevant decisions and control appropriate resources (e.g., staff, budget). The answers to the following questions will give you a heads up as to whether you have what you need:

• What is my budget?
• What is my signature authority (i.e., how much of the company's money can I commit without having to get additional approval)?
• Who (what positions) will report to me?
• Who sets the schedule?
• Will I be able to deal directly with the customer(s)?

If you are interviewing for a management job but are unclear about your level of authority, you might try asking the following question during your interview, "What will my budget be?" If you get a response like, "You don't need to worry about that, I will handle the budget" this sends a clear message as to your level of power and authority. If you have already accepted a position and later discover you don't have the power and authority you need, you may need to ask for it directly in order to be able to do your job effectively. Here is Joanne's story: She accepted a job as head of a software design and development group at an insurance company. After the first month on the job she found herself feeling frustrated and ineffective without knowing why. During one of our coaching calls we uncovered the reason - she was not being allowed to have any direct contact with the customers who were the end-uses of the software she was responsible to design and develop. The key requirements were being filtered to her second- and third-hand. Although she had the title she wanted, she had not received all of the authority she needed to be effective in her job. After recognizing the problem she went back and clearly asked for, and received, what she needed.

4. What is the predominant style of communication in your organization?

The higher up you move in the management structure the more you will be judged by your ability to communicate rather than by your technical ability. As a Coach and Mentor to many successful managers and executives I have seen communication issues derail more careers, and/or lead to more personal distress and confusion that any other single issue. Frequently when serious communication problems develop between a manager and his/her boss, peers, or direct reports they can be traced to differences in communication "style" rather than content - with one of the greatest areas of potential misunderstanding existing between "direct style" and "indirect style" communicators.

Differences in directness and indirectness show up in many areas where these style differences can lead to misinterpretations and conflict:

Negotiation and decision-making
People who use a direct style say what they think or what they intend to do and expect that if others have a different opinion they will say so and further discussion and negotiation will occur. These people present their ideas as if they are absolute truths, and tend to anger those with an indirect style who may hear these direct statements as arrogant non-negotiable demands. Those with an indirect style often start their discussions and negotiations with a question (e.g., "What do you think?" or "What would you like to do?"). The problem is that those with a direct style often believe that those who ask questions don't know what they want, and so the direct communicators feel justified in jumping in to solve the problem and take over the situation.

Giving criticism
Direct communicators give criticism straightforwardly. They are focused on the facts - this is what happened, this is what went wrong, and this is what you need to do to fix it. They tend not to address or worry about the feelings involved and assume that others will not take criticism personally (which unfortunately others often do!). Indirect communicators frequently show sensitivity to the feelings of others and are more likely to phrase things in ways that soften the effect of criticism. Unfortunately, sometimes those who favor the direct approach interpret this "softer" style as an indication of weakness.

Asking/telling others to do things
Direct communicators "tell" people what to do and how to do it; they give orders or issue directives. Indirect communicators do not say exactly what they mean but "imply" what they want, giving the other person the opportunity to voluntarily comply. For example, a direct communicator would say, "Have that report on my desk first thing in the morning." An indirect communicator might say, "I am really anxious to read the report you are preparing." Those who have an indirect style often see the direct style as heavy-handed, while those with a direct style often feel indirect requests are manipulative.

While neither the direct style nor indirect style of speaking is right or wrong, problems arise when differences caused by style go unrecognized. It is important that you know what style you typically employ, recognize the predominate or accepted style at your workplace, be alert to the styles that others are using, and recognize style differences for what they are rather than reacting to them unconsciously.

Summary:

When you step into a new management position, it is important to be an observer for a while, to not dig in too quickly. Pay attention to the above four key areas so that you can understand the "big picture" of the situation and identify where potential pitfalls exist. As a manager or executive you need the bigger picture so that you can keep designing the future, innovating, and creating results through others rather than doing all the detailed work yourself.

What is your point of view? Please post your thoughts on the discussion board.

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