Your First Leadership Job: How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others

Becoming the very best first–time leader

Congratulations! You re now in charge.  Perhaps it s your first time as a leader, or you want to fine tune your skills.  Either way, you have begun one of the most rewarding chapters of your career. But, like many beginnings, the first few years can be challenging. Thankfully, you don t have to tackle this one on your own.  Your First Leadership Job gives you practical advice straight from others who have walked in your shoes.  It is coupled with dozens of tools to ensure your success as a new leader.  And, it is based on the authors experience in researching and developing a quarter million leaders around the world every year. 

Your First Leadership Job is divided into two sections.  In Section One, we introduce the concept of catalyst leader one who can spark energy, passion and commitment in others.  Your transition to being an effective leader is a major one.  We provide essential tips to make your first years go smoother.  Above all, your role as a leader will largely depend on the effectiveness of dozens of interactions you will have daily.  Your First Leadership Job gives you the core skills you will come to rely on to make every one of these interactions successful. 

In the second part of Your First Leadership Job, 11 (count?) chapters are devoted to critical core leadership competencies, including, coaching for success, hiring the very best employees, turning the dreadful appraisal discussions into ones that propel performance, and handling difficult employees.  A special chapter for first time female leaders is also included. 

Look at Your First Leadership Job as an indispensable companion to becoming an awesome leader; a leader who will make a positive, lasting impact on your team, your family, and career. 

Preface i

1. Now You re a Leader 1

2. What Makes a Great Leader? 7

3. Navigating the Transition to Leadership 15

4. Your Leadership Brand, Part 1 26

5. Your Leadership Brand, Part 2 33

6. Leadership Is a Conversation, Part 1 44

7. Leadership Is a Conversation, Part 2 64

8. Interaction Guidelines: Your Five–Step Conversation Roadmap 73

9. Nothing Else Matters Unless You Get Results 85

Mastery and Leadership Skills Preface 111

10. Selection 113

11. What Your Boss Really Wants from You 128

12. Engagement and Retention 134

13. Meetings 148

14. Coaching 162

15. Feedback Fundamentals 174

16. Handling Difficult Employee Situations 182

17. Delegation 192

18. Performance Management 202

19. You and Your Network 210

20. Change 222

21. Influence 229

22. Innovation 237

23. A Woman s First Leadership Job 252

24. Your Next Career Move & Next Adventure 264

New Leader Checklist: Navigating Your First Six Months 279

Citations 292

Acknowledgments 298

About DDI 300

About the Authors 301

Index 303

TACY M. BYHAM, Ph.D. is CEO of Development Dimensions International (DDI).  Tacy has worked with dozens of global organizations creating custom solutions to improve the performance of their leaders.  Her belief is that better leadership is not just about the work place, but about better communities and ultimately a better world. 

RICHARD S. WELLINS, Ph.D, is a global expert in leadership development. Your First Leadership Job is Rich s fifth book on talent management, including the best–seller, Empowered Teams .  His research has been featured in Fortune, Business Week, CNBC, NPR, BBC, and Forbes.