In this year-end edition of the Leadership Development Breakfast Club held on 7 Dec 2024, participants had the opportunity to engage in group conversations with two women leaders on the topic of stepping up as first-time leaders. They also shared their own challenges in taking on leadership roles and gained valuable insights from the speakers' experiences in navigating these obstacles.
Reflecting on their own journeys, speakers Anisha Lala, Manager at YouTube APAC and Cindy Tan, CEO (Singapore) of GMO talked about what it looks like to manage a team, how they grew from the experience, and useful actions that help make the journey a little less lonely.
There were several actionable takeaways from the conversations:
1. Start with self-awareness to decide whether being a manager is for you
Be clear about your strengths and goals, and how they align with the leadership role
Understand your current role well and learn about areas that you can explore further through sponsors, mentors & peers
Consider your curiosity and desire to take on broader responsibilities as an individual contributor, manager, and leader.
Understand what fuels you—don’t force yourself into a role you’re not ready for.
2. Be intentionally curious and take incremental steps towards growth
Never stop learning. Growth is when you’re most uncomfortable! Be curious, open to feedback, and willing to push your boundaries.
Identify what else you need to learn and do to get to what’s next, and set a personal timeline for getting to where you want to be.
Communicate your goals and look for affirmations that you’re going the right way from sponsors, mentors and peers.
3. Invest time to learn about your team and include them in the journey
Invest time to learn about your team (e.g. communication styles, career aspirations). You can use personality frameworks to understand how you and team members fit.
Create shared goals with your team to help bridge differences & communicate expectations.
Use regular 1-on-1s to stay informed and support your team. Share not just how but also why things are done. To help get conversations going, consider the Rose-Thorn-Bud approach.
Give timely feedback supported with data points. It helps to first be clear about the organisation’s business goals/KPIs and where different skillsets are needed.
Seize opportunities to show up for the team!
4. Be genuine in building relationships and ask for support!
Your role as a manager is to help your team grow and move up, so you can move up as well.
You are not alone - recognise the importance of a peer network and be willing to ask for support!
Additional resources:
An example shared was the personality colour framework from the book Surrounded by Idiots.
The Rose-Thorn-Bud approach encourages team members to share a positive highlight, struggle or challenge faced, and any opportunities for improvement.
YWLC’s Leadership Breakfast Club series aims to provide participants with insights from accomplished female leaders about their careers and leadership journeys, over authentic and raw conversations over the breakfast table.
Author: Lee Rui Xian
Organising team: Samantha Halim, Hemaa Sekar, Janani Nadarajan, Jillian Chan, Lee Rui Xian
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