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I'm feeling isolated and work, it's impacting team morale and ultimately deliverables.
Recently promoted from Deputy to General Manager. As a Dep, I had a great relationship with my directs and my GM.
In this new role , my scope and responsibilities are wider. I still have O3s, we still socialise outside of work. Nevertheless, I've still got that big red warning light in my mind: you're the boss, don't be too casual, these guys need to report to you tomorrow!
For context, I'm in a restaurant chain, so there are no peers to socialise with.
Everyone reports to me, and my line manager is a distance manager; he has 15 restaurants to manage.
I've got great relationships with my seniors: the area, senior area, ops director and MD all have given me very positive feedback many times. I rarely see my superiors, and there are no peers within 25 miles.
Our company culture is "The less you see of your area manager, the better. It means you're doing everything right"
Yes we could argue about that but I've accepted that isn't going to change: I'm not the CEO and it's not within my sphere of influence to change that.
So, the question: anyone in a similar situation? What can I do about it?
Yes, I know that emotional responses are my fault: I just got poked with the umbrella on got lonely all by myself. But I'm not a vulcan, and I do have feelings guys!
Would be grateful for any input/experiences.
Peers and networks
In high tech I've experienced a situation with some similarities
Here are some ideas that helped
1) find an exec coach, someone who will help you work through specific challenges over a set number of phone meetings
2) discover local meet ups that are specific to your industry in a learning area and attend those
3) make friends with people in your position at other companies near by. Even if you all consider your restaurants as competitors. You can still help one another grow
4) get more involved in your local community with community, volunteer, or spiritual. This will help you stay grounded.
5) be a leader. Lead your team to be learners. Bring in speakers. Or take one of the manager tools topics and summarize,send that andthe podcast as prework and lead a discussion around it. You are creating a learning circle. Powerful stuff!
Margaret