When three peers—say at the department manager level—work together side by side, year after year and one is suddenly promoted to director, now managing the two former peers, resentments and hurt feelings may occur. After all, as much as the two former peers are happy for their newly promoted colleague, that person is now their new boss, and all sorts of weird feelings and vibes may suddenly get in the way of their relationship.
In addition, the new supervisor often feels a bit guilty that he was promoted and the other two were passed over. His guilt, combined with their hard feelings, can create problems in what was once a fairly cohesive group.
The Solution: When tension and resentment show themselves, the new supervisor often responds in one of two ways:
He either (1) placates the others and apologizes for his promotion, allowing the two new subordinates carte blanche to do whatever they want, or (2) turns into General field marshal, taking every opportunity to establish his new control over the group.
Obviously, either extreme creates its own set of problems and must be addressed quickly and definitively. If you are in charge of the promotion you can have a conversation with the new supervisor as follows:
“Kamoga, I need to meet with you regarding your transition into your new role as director. Tell me how it’s going overall, and specifically address how your two former peers—Katto and Matilda—are dealing with your new responsibilities”
Don’t be surprised to hear Kamoga tell you that things are going swim- mingly well or else confirm what you’ve heard from other members of the staff: That he’s either placating them every chance he gets or he’s isolating them by demonstrating total control over everything they do. In the first case, proceed as follows:
“Kamoga, I’m glad you feel like things are going well overall. I want to share with you, though, what the word on the street is. More than one person on your staff has noticed that you appear to be apologetic to Katto and Matilda, almost feeling guilty that you were elected for promotion while they weren’t. If that’s the case, it’s understandable. It’s known as New Supervisor Syndrome, and it’s common for the newly promoted peer to placate the others or otherwise allow them total discretion to do whatever they want without much direction or instruction. Is it possible that this might be the case in your group?”
Again, your style and tone need not be harsh or judgmental. You’re simply trying to help Kamoga solve a problem, and getting him to talk about why he might harbor feelings of guilt or otherwise be hesitant to supervise his former peers is the first step in resolving the problem.
On the other hand, if you hear that Kamoga is taking the General field Marshal approach to dealing with his former peers, you might structure your initial conversation this way:
“Kamoga , I’m glad you feel like things are going well overall. I want to share with you, though, what the word on the street is. Apparently more than one person on your staff has noticed that you appear to be taking a very heavy hand with Katto and Matilda. It’s to a point where one person told me that he was embarrassed to be in the same room when you addressed them both in a condescending and antagonistic manner.
I understand that they both report to you now, and this is your unit, but let’s discuss how you want to run it. More important, let’s discuss what kind of reputation you want to develop with your staff as the new unit head and what kind of culture you want to emanate from the top down“
Assuming Kamoga reports to you, you have every right to discuss his new transition into the unit head role. You likewise have the discretion to provide him with feedback regarding the ‘‘word on the street,’’ or what you hear others saying about him.
Engage him openly and honestly, and you’ll more than likely find that he’ll be amenable to your constructive suggestions and willing to convert his newly acquired responsibility into benefits for his two former peers as well as the whole team.
All the best in your new roles for those that were promoted this year
