"I have worked at the same company for 12 years now, and I was recently promoted into a role that places me above several people who have mentored me in my career. These are colleagues who trained me, advocated for me and helped shape my professional growth, so stepping into a position where I now oversee or outrank them feels weird."
"Speak to your former mentors individually. Thank them for all of the support and love they have offered you over the years. Bring up this new stage in your career where you have been promoted to leadership. Admit that it feels awkward being in this new role. Repeat your gratitude for all their help. Tell them you hope you will make them proud as you step into this role. Then go for it."
A long-tenured employee was promoted into a role that places them above colleagues who mentored and advocated for their career, producing discomfort about overseeing those mentors and prompting second-guessing and downplaying of authority. The promotion has led to polite distance from some former mentors and reduced receptivity to ideas from others. The recommended approach is to speak to each former mentor individually, thank them for their support and love, acknowledge the awkwardness of the new role, explain the leadership change, express hope to make them proud, and then step confidently into the position. A separate correspondent reports a friend who calls only to request favors, repeatedly asking the respondent to mentor, connect, hire, or advise others, sometimes involving pushy and insistent people.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]