For many people, the move to a management position is an exciting step in their personal and professional development.  Often, the promotion represents recognition for your successful performance as an individual contributor, and acknowledgment of your potential as a manager. Your manager's announcement might sound like this - "You've done such a great job as a sales rep that we're going to make you the sales manager." You might (hopefully!) get an office and a raise.

The challenge new managers quickly discover is that life as a manager is significantly different from anything they've experienced, and particularly at the outset, overwhelming.

As an individual performer, you were responsible for performing specific tasks; your contribution to the success of your organization was individual. It depended on your personal experience, expertise, initiative and action.

As a manager you're in charge of a particular department or work unit, with employees who formally report to you. While you still may perform some technical or sales tasks - particularly in your first management position - your primary responsibility will be to achieve results through the efforts of others - your employees, peers, managers, clients and suppliers. You now need to be able to motivate, develop and support your staff, create a positive work environment, liaise with others in the organization, interpret and enforce policy and represent your employer to the community at large.

In a way, management is a paradox, because it represents a balance between authority and dependence. As a manager you have the authority to make decisions and choices that will affect results for your customers, your organization and your employees. At the same time you're dependent on each of these groups to help you achieve those results. The challenges are great, and so are the rewards.

Linda A. Hill, a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard, followed the careers of 19 new managers to study the challenges they faced becoming managers. She found that over their "journey", new managers needed to address four main tasks:

• Learning what it means to be a manager
• Developing interpersonal judgment
• Understanding yourself
• Coping with stress and emotion

What it means to be a manager

As a manager you need to balance priorities and meet the needs of each of your constituent groups: your own, employees', your manager's and your peers. These groups all have different expectations of you as a manager:

Developing interpersonal judgment

• Establish your credibility - which comes not only from knowing the technical aspects of the work, but from the way in which you deal with problems and issues that arise
• Build employee commitment - by the time and effort you invest in people; how you solve problems, correct mistakes, recognize success- moving from control to commitment
• Lead the group - the extent to which you motivate, persuade and empower at the team as well as individual level.

• Be aware that your employees bring a diverse mix of commitment and capability to their work - you need to acknowledge this and evaluate and manage each individual appropriately. You'll be faced with performance and conduct challenges that may come from any level of commitment and skill, from the inexperienced to underutilized employee.
• Be prepared to delegate effectively, providing the appropriate level of support and direction to ensure the employee can carry out the assigned work. This includes knowing when to "let go" and be more hands-off in your approach, and when to step in and work closely with your employee.

Understanding yourself

As a manager you'll be constantly faced with the need to make decisions and trade-offs. You'll have to deal with overload, ambiguity and conflict. It's going to be important for you to constantly evaluate what you're doing in terms of its effect on your employees, customers, the organization, and you. You'll need to rely on the feedback of others - your employees, managers, peers and others within your organization, to evaluate your performance strengths and weaknesses and results, and where necessary change your approach. As you gain experience, you'll become more confident and consistent in your decisions and judgment. And you'll ultimately see the impact you're having on those around you.

Coping with stress and emotion

The move to management is like moving to a new town - you're going to have to become familiar with a whole new landscape. Not only are your responsibilities different as a manager, but you have to adopt a new personality - no longer one of the gang, your now a leader of the pack, and responsible for its well being, performance and survival. As you learn your new job you're going to have to be able to tolerate:

Role strain associated with the shift from being an individual performer to a manager. This can include:

• Overload - in terms of the amount you have to learn and handle
• Ambiguity - as far as the need to balance potentially conflicting priorities and interpersonal relationships are concerned
• Conflict -making the right decisions, working with your employees, and helping them work with each other.