Hiring a NEW Manager

You need to hire a manager. The stakes are high. This individual needs to be capable of balancing a budget, communicating with senior management, and leading a team – and they need to be able to do it from day one. But what if both your leading outside hire and your internal star player have never managed before? You must now rely on your ability to decipher the intangible – your candidate’s personality.

To start, it would be helpful to ask if the candidate has taken on a management or leadership role outside of the workplace – i.e. captain of a sports team, editor of a school newspaper, manager of a group of volunteers, etc. People skills, namely empathy and self-awareness, are the most important characteristics needed to transition into a position of management. Both can be acquired and practiced outside of the office in any of the former roles mentioned.

It is also beneficial to discuss the candidate’s view of the “big picture.” In other words, the candidate’s ability to see beyond the current task and immediate situation and into the future. Has the candidate ever set a long-term goal and met it? What does the candidate believe the big picture is in the role they are interviewing for? Does the candidate understand how the tasks being performed by their team help implement the big picture?

Here are some additional interview questions that can help you understand your candidate’s personal qualities as they relate to management success…

1. How have you developed your people skills?
2. How would you prepare to transition from working as an individual to leading the work of a team?
3. How would you balance big picture goals with your team’s daily responsibility?
4. Have you managed a group outside of work that helped you learn something about leading people?
5. When have you had to increase your self-awareness in order to complete a project or task?
6. What do you view as the challenges to managing this team?
7. As an employee, success is defined by your own actions, behavior, and achievements. As a manager, success is defined by your ability to help employees, act, behave, and achieve at a high level. Are you willing to change how you define success?
8. How would you feel if you had done everything you could do, but your team failed to meet expectations?

Moving into a management role requires the awareness of the nature of management. An understanding that it is an art, as well as a science. Management requires a creative sense in order to problem-solve, an instinctive perception of others, and at times an inspiring imagination to motivate a team. It is not a role for everyone and it is quite alright to acknowledge the ups and downs to becoming a great manager. Your candidate should be reminded that you want the person who accepts this role to succeed and flourish, even if that includes weekly check-in meetings or mentoring. Every manager had to take the leap into management for the first time – and someone had to take that leap of faith with them.