New responsibilities, a new dimension to your leadership
“ What got you here won’t get you there. ”
— Marshall Goldsmith
Your scope of responsibility is expanding.
You are joining an executive committee, your teams are growing, and expectations are changing.
It is a welcome recognition of what you have achieved so far. And the beginning of a new learning journey.
A few months later, your calendar is overflowing. People still come to you with the same problems, and you continue to get involved in areas you know inside out. Your title has changed, but the way you contribute remains much the same as before.
In my coaching work, one question comes up regularly: how can you adapt the strategies that have made you successful when your role takes on a new dimension? This leads to another equally important question: what contribution do you now want to be recognised for?
Rethinking your strategies for success
Your expertise, your availability, and your ability to resolve difficult situations have helped you progress. People know they can count on you. You probably enjoy being effective and the recognition that comes with it.
With new responsibilities, these qualities need to be applied differently. If every difficulty ends up on your desk, how much time is left to think about the future? If you always provide the answer, how much room do you leave for your team members to exercise their own judgement?
Take a moment to look at your calendar:
Which activities still belong to your previous role?
Which decisions could you delegate to your teams?
Which strategic issues are you putting off because you lack the time?
This transition also affects what gives us satisfaction at work. Solving a problem brings an immediate result. Helping a team member grow or building a shared vision requires more patience.
Part of the change involves learning to find satisfaction in these new forms of success. Seeing a team make decisions without you can become just as rewarding as resolving a difficult situation yourself.
Clarifying how you want to be seen
Personal branding begins long before you update your LinkedIn profile. It takes shape in your meetings, your decisions, the way you speak up, and how you support your teams.
What do you want people to turn to you for? What would you like your peers to remember about your contribution?
Your reputation as an expert may still precede you, even though you now want to be recognised for your strategic vision. Your availability may be appreciated, while also reinforcing the habit of involving you in every decision.
Here is an exercise I suggest: choose three qualities you want to be recognised for in your new role, then link each one to an observable behaviour.
Strategic: share your perspective on market developments and their implications for the business.
Talent developer: entrust an important project to a team member and give them the space to take ownership of it.
Courageous: express a well-reasoned disagreement and take responsibility for a difficult decision.
This exercise helps give direction to your development. It also makes your contribution clearer to the people you work with.
Exploring the gap between your intentions and your impact
We know our intentions. Others mainly experience our behaviours.
You want to bring energy; some people may feel you intervene too often. You want to remain humble; your convictions become difficult to identify. You believe you are supporting your teams; they wait for your approval before moving forward.
These gaps are valuable to explore. They provide insights that introspection alone cannot always reveal.
Ask a few people who see you at work: a peer, your manager, and some team members. Ask them:
In which situations is my contribution most useful to you?
What behaviour would I benefit from changing to succeed in my new role?
What would you need to see me do more often?
Ask for examples. “You should be more strategic” is difficult to act on. “In executive committee meetings, I would like to hear your recommendation before the details of your analysis” gives you something concrete to work on.
Listen all the way through, even when you feel the urge to explain why you acted as you did. You can then choose the adjustments that feel right to you.
Making what you are building visible
The people around you sometimes need time to update their perception of you. You can help them by changing the way you present your projects and achievements.
When you share a result, explain the choices that made it possible. Show how you brought the right people together, developed their autonomy, or made trade-offs between competing priorities. Give visibility to those who contributed to the success.
This is where storytelling becomes useful. Prepare a few short, real stories: a difficult decision, a team member you helped develop, a conviction you turned into action.
These stories help others understand your judgement and the way you lead. They gradually enrich the image others have of you.
Also consider how you introduce yourself. Do you mainly talk about your past experience, or do you clearly explain what you are trying to build today?
Embedding this approach through practice
We can quickly understand what we need to change, yet take much longer to do it naturally.
Choose one or two behaviours to work on over the coming weeks: prepare a shorter contribution for an executive committee meeting, state your recommendation at the beginning of a discussion, let a team member answer in your place, or set a clear boundary.
After an important meeting, take a few minutes to reflect: what did you do differently? What impact did it have? What would you like to try next time?
Repetition makes these behaviours more natural. It strengthens your confidence and gives those around you tangible signs of your development.
And you, what contribution do you want to be recognised for in your new role?
What opportunity could you seize this week to make it visible?
#leadership #PersonalBranding #SituationalLeadership #coaching
