Many individuals get promoted at work because they are good at their job.  What can then follow is a real struggle to get to terms with their new role, not because they struggle with the job, but that they struggle with their role as a manager.

Being an excellent manager requires many skills, including the ability to motivate, delegate and deal with difficult people.  These skills, of course, are not necessarily natural to individuals and many need to be learnt.  Just because we are good at our job does not mean we naturally have these skills.

Sometimes we learn the hard way, of course, where we learn from our mistakes.  This can be an effective method of learning, although the damage left behind can last a lifetime both for the organisation or individual concerned.

I believe that training can help here; effective training can help us with the necessary skills.  Moreover, if conducted correctly, training can aid the delegate to reflect on their current practice and what needs to be changed to get to where we want to be; implementation and reflection can then be used to improve.  I have seen this on numerous occasions on our management programmes, and it is motivational to see.

Remember, just because your good at your job doesn’t mean you will be a good manager.  The reality is that most people end up getting promoted at work into a management role because they are good at their job.  Reflect on this and ask yourself do I have the key management skills I need and where do I need to improve.

Ralph Moody is the founder of Target Training and specialises in trainer and management development.  You can read more about him here.