Close to 15 years ago, I trained as a Cambridge examiner. The final certification was on a Sunday, I had my own school at the time, and I felt like a champion. I was now a Cambridge examiner, and it felt like my career was going somewhere. Now, if you are an examiner and you have been doing it for a while, you will realise how silly all this was. But to me, it was extremely exciting. I came home at around 6 at night, ready for dinner, and ready to celebrate my new role. Unfortunately, both my dog and oldest son, who was just under a year old at the time, had gotten sick. My son soiled his diaper more than once that evening, and my dog, who is very well housetrained, threw up and pooped all over the living room floor. I spent my night of celebration cleaning poop.

Then, I got to work the next day. My teaching should be different. It should be better. I am now a Cambridge speaking examiner with an examiner number. I’ve got a new title. But nothing changed. And soon I realised, my title changed nothing. I was exactly the same person, with pretty much the same knowledge as I was a week or two earlier. The only thing that had grown was my arrogance.

The big danger when we get new roles is that our arrogance grows faster than our awareness of who we are, where we need help, and what we can realistically do. And because of that, we struggle in new roles. And then, soon, we end up shouting ‘Help! I’m a new manager (or whatever role you want to add in here). This blog looks at what we can do, what we should do, and how to find help.

 

 

 

From teacher to manager and learning as a manager  

While not the focus of this blog, there are many things you can do and learn as a new manager. I have written before about learning management through managing, how to become a manager, and a transition model to move from teacher to manager. There are also a number of books and online articles that you could be reading, and I would strongly suggest joining a community like IATEFL LAMSIG or something through your local teaching association. With all that being said, you cannot read lots of articles and books if your immediate feeling is ‘HELP!’, and that is the focus of this post.  

 

You have not suddenly become smarter or better 

You have a new role and new responsibilities, but in reality, nothing has changed about who you are and what you know. It can be a very unpleasant realisation, especially when you suddenly feel overwhelmed with the new responsibilities. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I find that quite often if people are overwhelmed by a new position, the pressure they are feeling are coming form them rather than from the outside. Be realistic about your expectations of yourself. That does not mean you shouldn’t be excited and celebrate. You should. And congratulations on the new role but be realistic in terms of what you can and cannot do.

 

 

What do you know about yourself?

When you feel like you need help because you are overwhelmed, take a step back and think about what you can do. Then start by doing the things you are comfortable with and choose one or two things you are not comfortable and gradually learn about them until you are comfortable with them. That would more than likely mean asking for help from your line manager or the school owner. You have to write an annual academic performance plan. Ask to see a previous one so you have a model. But you already know this, because when you taught writing, you gave your students models.

Another point here is to prioritise. Become good at managing your time and don’t procrastinate on things you can do because you are worried about the things you cannot. Prioritise both getting things done and learning the things you are unfamiliar with. Be kind to yourself. You cannot learn everything in a week. It takes time so be patient with yourself and those around you.

 

Find a mentor

This feels like I am repeating myself in almost every blog, but I cannot stress how important this is. Find a mentor. That could be someone in your organisation, your local teachers’ association, or anyone that could be a critical friend or guiding light. Find someone that you can talk to. You will be surprised how insightful even someone that isn’t in the industry might be if they listen to you, because sometimes they come up with great ideas, but more often than not, you will come up with a great idea just because you are talking to someone ad verbalising how you feel and what your challenges are.

 

 

Looking forward

There is a good likelihood you will feel overwhelmed at some point in a new role, but my looking forward comment is not completely related to that. Too often I see people not applying for management roles because they ‘cannot do everything described in the role profile.’ If you could do everything, you should be applying for another role, probable higher up. Don’t wait until you can do everything hoping that you won’t feel overwhelmed. It is almost inevitable to feel overwhelmed and stressed at some point, so apply if you can do most of the things required, because you can and will learn the other things. If you have a mentor, you have someone that can guide you through the learning. And then, when you manage other managers, and you realise one of them is saying ‘Help! I’m a new manager’ you can mentor and help them.