Randy’s dream has come true. An insurance underwriter for the last four years, he can finally call himself a manager. His boss recently told him, “You’ve worked hard, the agents like you, and your results have been outstanding. So we’re going to put you in charge of one of our underwriting units. Our hope is you’ll teach your employees how you do it, and your success will rub off on them.” | The Successful New Manager Randy s dream has come true. An insurance underwriter for the last four years he can finally call himself a manager. His boss recently told him You ve worked hard the agents like you and your results have been outstanding. So we re going to put you in charge of one of our underwriting units. Our hope is you ll teach your employees how you do it and your success will rub off on them. Just like that 10 employees now report to Randy. He walks into his new office a real office not a cubicle and looks around in a daze. He has wanted to manage a staff ever since he visited his division head s huge home many years ago and noticed how well a boss could live. And he figures that once he proves that he can handle a group of crusty cynical underwriters and help them boost their results the sky s the limit for him. Who s Your Model Like so many new managers Randy assumes that he can do the job better than others who ve come before him because he realizes what mistakes not to make. He s had seven bosses in his career and he knows exactly what they did right and wrong. The same thing happens when proud parents hold their newborn and 1 2 Skills for New Managers declare confidently to each other Let s raise this adorable baby the right way not like our parents did it You may think you know what it takes to manage well. After all you re an earnest straight-shooter who gets along well with a wide range of people. You like challenges and you dread boring routines. Experienced managers have told you that every day is different when you re in charge of a staff and that sounds just fine with you. But the real test of your management skills rests on your ability to grow into the job. No newly minted manager can possibly anticipate what it s like to direct people. Each day brings weird scenarios you could never predict from the clerk who bursts into tears for no apparent reason what do you do to the disgruntled veteran who issues a veiled threat against you and
