Becoming a Leader: Early Career Challenges Faced by MBA Graduates
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姝 Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2011, Vol. 10, No. 3, 452–472. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amle.2011.0002
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Becoming a Leader:
Early Career Challenges Faced
by MBA Graduates
BETH BENJAMIN
CHARLES O’REILLY
Stanford University
Leadership development is often cited as an important organizational priority. Despite
the criticisms of MBA education, MBA graduates represent one important source of future
leaders. Although we have amassed significant knowledge about the roles and functions
of senior leaders, we know far less about the challenges faced by younger ones. Indeed,
Linda Hill’s seminal work on new managers is predicated on the study of only 19 recently
promoted sales managers from two companies (Hill, 1992). Our work here investigates the
early career challenges of 55 young leaders who had graduated from an MBA program in
the past decade. Based on in-depth interviews, we identified three types of transition that
these young leaders described as particularly important to their development, and the
four most common challenges they struggled with throughout these transitions. The
process of working through these challenges led many of these young leaders to
fundamentally change the way they thought about and practiced leadership, thereby
facilitating their evolution from individual contributor to experienced leader. Drawing on
these observations, we provide suggestions for how MBA programs can be modified to
help students prepare for the experiences they will likely have to navigate early in their
careers.
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“In content and pedagogy, the education schools failed so abysmally? Critics have identi-
many business schools provide does little to fied a number of potential reasons, one of which is
prepare managers for their day-to-day reali- that recent MBA graduates lack the skills neces-
ties (Porter & McKibbin, 1988: 258).” sary to effectively manage people. Conger (2004)
argues that academic models of leadership typi-
“Business schools appear to be producing cally adopt a one-size-fits-all approach rather than
MBA graduates ill-equipped for the chal- acknowledging that leadership requirements may
lenges of the real world (Chia & Holt, 2008: vary across levels and circumstances. Compound-
471).” ing this, MBA programs typically concentrate on
the skills needed by general managers but largely
In their well-known evaluation of the state of busi- ignore or are ignorant of those needed by their
ness schools, Porter and McKibbin (1988) lamented graduates to succeed in their early careers. Indeed,
the fact that business schools, in their quest for in a symposium on leadership development, Steve
rigor, had lost their relevance. In the two decades Kerr, a scholar-practitioner, observed that “[t]he
since, little seems to have changed. Critics still developmental needs of ‘early’ employees are usu-
charge business schools with being largely irrele- ally not well known” (Kerr, 2004: 120).
vant to leadership and the practice of management The primary mission of business schools is to
(e.g., Bennis & O’Toole, 2005; Ghoshal, 2005; Pfeffer prepare people to practice their skills in the busi-
& Fong, 2004). Mintzberg (2004) has put it most pun- ness world. Unfortunately, many academics do a
gently, claiming that we are teaching the wrong poor job of developing and organizing new knowl-
material with the wrong methods to the wrong edge in a way that can be useful to practicing
students. managers. Instead of teaching what the students
If these claims are true, why have business need, we often teach what we know— our disci-
452
Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved. Contents may not be copied, emailed, posted to a listserv, or otherwise transmitted without the copyright holder’s
express written permission. Users may print, download, or email articles for individual use only.2011 Benjamin and O’Reilly 453
plinary expertise (Tushman & O’Reilly, 2007). An leadership (e.g., Carroll & Mui, 2008; Finkelstein,
unanswered question is do we know what our stu- 2003). McCall (2010) observes that “[c]onsidering
dents need to know? In their critique of MBA edu- the damage done by lousy leadership, and the
cation, Pfeffer and Fong (2002) suggest that busi- possibilities for good in extraordinary leadership,
ness school faculty need to do three things to it seems obvious that it is important, indeed cru-
improve the relevance of MBA education: be more cial, to invest in developing leadership talent”
problem or phenomenon focused, listen more to (705). In a study of managerial derailment within
our subjects, and be concerned with applicability one company, Lombardo, Ruderman, and McCau-
as well as theory. ley (1988) estimated the cost of a single failed man-
ager at $500,000. Even the American public seems
to regard leadership as lacking in the United
Managers clearly would benefit most if States. A 2005 Yankelovich study using interviews
these developmentally challenging with more than 1,300 people reported that 73% be-
lieved that leaders were out of touch with the av-
experiences occurred earlier in their
erage person and only 27% were the “best and the
careers rather than later. brightest.”
Leadership is an individual capability. It is
about what you do, how you think, and who you
To address this problem, several prominent re- are. The acquisition of these skills may be partly
searchers in leadership development have sug- dispositional, but much comes through learning
gested straightforward solutions. Hill (1992), for ex- and experience. From this perspective, improve-
ample, suggests that “[m]anagement training ments in leadership development could be well
should focus on what it means to be and what it served by better understanding what aspects of
feels like to be a manager” (249). McCall (2010) “doing” leaders struggle with and why. Under-
argues that development efforts should “focus not standing the early “doing” challenges will likely
on attributes of the leaders we might call effective produce significant insight into the other aspects
leaders, but on the experiences that teach lessons of leadership as well.
that might, over time, produce effective leaders”
(681). These suggestions all argue for a greater
MBA Programs—Problem or Solution?
understanding of the real challenges faced by
younger leaders as opposed to the current preoc- Although academics love to debate whether lead-
cupation with theoretical and analytic skills. Hack- ers are born or made, the evidence is quite clear:
man and Wageman (2007) note that we need a “It is not a matter of whether leaders are born or
better understanding of both what should be made. They are born and made” (Conger, 2004: 136).
taught as well as how leaders can be helped to Avolio, Rotundo, and Walumbwa (2009) estimate
learn. that 30% of leadership is heritable, while 70% is
developed. These estimates are consistent with the
finding that successful performance in most do-
Leadership Development
mains can be attributed to experience, practice,
There can be little doubt that leadership develop- and coaching rather than innate talent (Gladwell,
ment is an important topic. A Google search on 2008). Other evidence suggests that there can be
leadership reveals 141 million hits. Friga, Bettis, significant positive returns to the investment in
and Sullivan (2003) report that corporations spend leadership development (Avolio, Avey, & Quisen-
more than $2.2 trillion on education and training. berry, 2010).
Hannah and Avolio (2010) estimate that $10 billion However, to be effective, leadership develop-
is spent on leadership development alone. Mintz- ment should start early in a person’s career and, as
berg (2004) notes that the United States produces McCall (2004) notes, “pay special attention to cru-
more than 130,000 MBA graduates annually and cial transition points” (128). One such transition
that in 1998, 42% of the Fortune-100 CEOs had MBA occurs as students move from MBA programs into
degrees. Pfeffer and Fong (2002) even point out that jobs that require them to manage others.
management and management skills have been If we want our graduates to flourish, it is imper-
identified as a core competence for economic ative that we help them acquire the skills, abili-
prosperity. ties, attitudes, and knowledge required to do so.
Yet, evidence for the failures in leadership But do we know what it is that our students need to
abound. Several books have documented the fail- know? Wren, Halbesleben, and Buckley (2007), in a
ure of large firms and attributed these to failures in study of 525 members of the Academy of Manage-454 Academy of Management Learning & Education September
ment, argue that academics in business schools also challenged new managers to develop new
don’t always see their jobs as developing and or- skills—skills which their previous experiences
ganizing new knowledge in a way that it can be had not prepared them for. Because the nature and
useful to practicing managers. Chia and Holt (2008: significance of this transformation required not
471) illustrate how a preference for abstract causal only learning new skills but also changes in atti-
explanation over practical knowledge has led to tude and self-awareness, Hill surmises much of the
detached contemplation rather than involved ac- emphasis on imparting managerial knowledge
tion when it comes to business school teaching. through classroom learning may be misplaced—
Indeed, in a survey of the curricula of top-rated the education many business schools provide may
business schools, Navarro (2008) found a lack of do little to prepare managers for their day-to-day
emphasis on the integration and experiential com- realities. To address this misalignment, Hill advo-
ponents needed to develop leaders. cates training that emphasizes the specific chal-
Many authors agree that beginning to develop lenges faced by new managers with a focus on
leader-managers early in their careers is impor- what it means to be and feel like a new manager.
tant. McCall (2004) observes that most organiza- But what are the specific challenges faced by
tions begin executive development processes at recent MBA graduates? Hill’s study focused on 19
very senior levels, but to be truly effective he sug- first-line sales managers from two firms—10
gests that leadership development should begin branch managers in a securities firm (average age
much earlier. Hill (1992) also notes that “[t]here can 36) and 9 sales managers in a computer company
be significant benefits to intensive education for (average age 30). Whether any were MBAs or how
younger managers” (2). Although many scholars their experiences might generalize to the roles and
have observed that experience, rather than formal responsibilities of recent business school gradu-
training, may be the best way to develop leaders, ates in other firms or industries is unclear. Would
educational training that replicates developmen- the specific challenges be the same? We set out to
tally challenging experiences can enhance leader- extend Hill’s work by focusing directly on the ex-
ship skills by motivating people to think critically periences of new managers who have graduated
about the situation, teaching them to analyze un- from an MBA program.
derlying causes and consequences of problems,
and enabling them to develop new ways of dealing
with others (DeRue & Wellman, 2009). Managers METHODS
clearly would benefit most if these developmen-
Study Design
tally challenging experiences occurred earlier in
their careers rather than later. To identify specific leadership challenges faced by
We expect that educational experiences could MBA graduates early in their careers, we gathered
be especially impactful if the form and content of data from managers across a variety of organiza-
what is being taught reflects the specific require- tions. Our goal was to understand the experience
ments of the leadership audience’s near-term of recently minted MBAs—from their perspec-
needs. Thus, in teaching leadership to MBAs, that tives—with a focus on the types of situations they
we design experiences to reflect the actual chal- found most difficult to navigate. Specifically, we
lenges our students will face early on is critical, in wanted to know: (1) Were there particular experi-
addition to more abstract theories. When design- ences that MBA graduates frequently fumbled or
ing development efforts, the ideal is to present the struggled with? (2) if so, what was it about these
right challenges at the right time to people who are situations that they found particularly difficult or
motivated to learn such that they are prepared to surprising? and (3) what insights or lessons, if any,
extract all that their subsequent experiences have could be learned from these experiences? Because
to offer. This requires that we have a good under- we wanted to understand the world from the eyes
standing of the specific situations and challenges of those who lived it, we relied on key informant
that young managers typically face. interviews as described by Gilchrest (1992). Key
informant interviewing is an ethnographic ap-
proach used across a variety of disciplines includ-
The First-Time Manager
ing anthropology, medical sociology, and educa-
In her book Becoming a Manager (1992) Linda Hill tion. It is sometimes described as “research
followed 19 first-time managers for a year and listening” (Miller & Crabtree, 1992) because the
documented the challenges they encountered. She goal is not to test a set of specific hypotheses, but
characterized the challenge of becoming a man- to discover a sense of reality that is shared by a
ager as one of a transformation in identity, which given group or constituency. The difference in ori-2011 Benjamin and O’Reilly 455
entation is important to note because researchers by the population of MBA graduates pursuing a
using key informant interviews seek to learn from management career. The sampling was purposeful
people and understand their informants’ interpre- and strategic, guided by our theoretically formed
tation of events rather than studying people and judgments (Johnson, 1990). Because we were ex-
forming interpretations of their own (Spradley, plicitly interested in the challenges associated
1979). This approach allows for the discovery of with managing others, we excluded from the sam-
phenomena that might not have been considered pling pool graduates working for organizations
otherwise, in addition to new ways of conceptual- with a partnership governance structure (i.e., man-
izing and analyzing problems of interest. agement consulting, private equity, venture capi-
tal, and investment banking). Although interesting
in their own right, we were concerned that the
Sample Selection
career paths, election processes, and equity re-
Key informants are individuals who possess spe- quirements in these firms could introduce unique
cial knowledge or status; who are willing to share variation that might not generalize to firms with
their knowledge; and who have access to perspec- more traditional corporate governance structures.
tives, experiences, or observations that are not di- We also dropped from our sample those who were
rectly available to the researcher (Goetz & clearly not in management roles (e.g., technical
LeCompte, 1984). In addition, Gilchrest (1992) specialists, such as analysts, buyers, staff engi-
points out that key informants differ from other neers, etc.).
informants in the nature of their relationship to the For each graduating class we identified gradu-
researcher. In many cases, the relationship may be ates whose current job title suggested that they
one of longer duration, it may span different set- held a role with significant managerial responsi-
tings, and it may be more intimate or familiar. bility. We reasoned that individuals who had ad-
Notably, key informants are not selected randomly. vanced to more senior positions during a given
Random sampling is based on the assumption that period, or who had founded and led their own
the phenomenon under study is represented organizations, were likely to have had a broader
equally across the population—in this case, grad- range of experiences. In addition, Fetterman (1989)
uates of MBA programs. We make no assumption and others have recommended that key infor-
that the knowledge or perspective we are seek- mants, ideally, should be individuals who are ar-
ing—perceived challenges experienced by early- ticulate, thoroughly enculturated, and currently ac-
career managers—and the ability to share these tive within the domain-of-interest, in this case
challenges, is equally distributed among the pop- management. Our previous discussions with more
ulation of MBA graduates. Our intention was to experienced leaders suggested that individuals
learn as much as possible about the situations occupying more senior roles were no less likely to
described most frequently as difficult or hazardous encounter significant leadership challenges on
to a novice manager’s career. their way up. Rather, they were simply more likely
With these considerations in mind, we wanted to to have learned from the challenges they experi-
interview a set of informants who would have enced (McCall, 2010). Ultimately our interviews ap-
unique insight into the types of leadership chal- peared to support this claim: We discovered that
lenges that MBA graduates pursuing a managerial despite their apparent success, many of our infor-
career are likely to struggle with early on. To gen- mants had experienced significant setbacks at
erate our sample, we obtained a listing of all stu- some point during the first 5–10 years of their ca-
dents who had graduated from the MBA program of reers. Last, we aimed to select informants repre-
a top-ranked U.S. business school between the sentatively across industry and cohort (i.e., number
years of 1997 and 2006. The listing included each of years since graduation).
subject’s date of graduation, current organiza-
tional affiliation, their title, the city within which
they worked, and relevant contact information. The To the extent young managers were able
data set was sorted by graduation date and orga- to figure out which assumptions and
nization, allowing us to compare graduates on the behaviors to leave behind and which
basis of their career progression within and across
comparable companies.
new ones to incorporate into their
Consistent with ethnographic methods, our sam- evolving repertoire, they accomplished
pling aimed to yield a reasonable number of infor- the learning necessary for making
mants who could provide a representative picture important transitions in their leadership.
of the types of leadership challenges experienced456 Academy of Management Learning & Education September
We sent e-mail invitations to 62 graduates, invit- business education had either prepared or failed
ing these former students to take part in a 60 – to prepare them to handle the challenges.
90 minute interview as part of our “Young Leaders” Last, we asked what, if anything, our informants
study. Fifty-five of the 62 graduates agreed to par- had taken away from their experiences—what had
ticipate. One declined our request and six failed to they learned or changed? We did not assume that
respond to the invitation, possibly due to outdated the informants had learned anything from the ex-
contact information. Figure 1 reports the distribu- periences they described or that any of their take-
tion of respondents by class year, gender, and com- aways were necessarily the “right” lessons. They
pany size. The sample reflects a representative were merely an accurate rendering of the manag-
distribution of graduates by gender, with a slight ers’ perceptions as they had experienced a given
oversampling of those who had graduated 4 – 6 challenge. Once we exhausted our discussion of
years prior to the study to ensure that we identified the first issue, we asked informants to recount oth-
challenges associated with newer managers. ers, repeating the process until the individuals
could recall no additional examples or until we ran
out of time.
Interviews
After each interview, the interviewer transcribed
Once a graduate-informant agreed to be inter- the discussion, creating a detailed set of interview
viewed, we sent a list of discussion topics to re- notes. These notes included descriptions of the in-
view prior to the conversation. We conducted in- formants’ career histories, their characterization of
terviews in person at the informant’s workplace, at the most challenging experiences they had faced
a convenient location nearby, or by telephone since business school, the context in which these
when the participant’s schedule or location made experiences occurred, what actions they took, and
meeting in person prohibitive. Phone interviews any reported learning. In many cases, participants
typically lasted 60 –75 minutes and in-person inter- described their learning in terms of how their lead-
views typically lasted 90 minutes, although a few ership views had changed and what they would do
ran as long as 2 hours. A single interviewer— one differently if the situation occurred today. When
of the coauthors— conducted all interviews to relevant, direct quotes were included in the inter-
maintain consistency. view notes, capturing the participants’ experi-
Because our goal was to uncover patterns and ences in their own words.
generate new insight, we began each discussion After all the interviews were completed, we in-
with some broad, open-ended questions that al- dependently reviewed the transcribed notes to
lowed the informant to set the stage for the rest of identify and group the challenges and discover
the discussion (Gilchrest, 1992; Spradley, 1979). Af- themes that emerged from the data. We iterated
ter describing the career path since graduating back and forth to compare interpretations, discuss
and the scope of current responsibilities, each in- thematic categories, and resolve any differences in
formant was asked to recount the most challenging coding or conclusions (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). This
leadership issues faced in their career to date. coding process yielded approximately 125 sepa-
These questions focused the discussion on the spe- rate descriptions of incidents or problems.
cific situations, management dilemmas, and per- As the final part of our study, we contacted 15 of
sonal issues that these early-career leaders found the graduate-managers whose transitions, chal-
as most challenging, surprising, or difficult. We lenges, and learning appeared to be most repre-
asked our informants to describe each situation sentative or informative of the full sample. We
in-depth and to articulate what made the issue conducted two additional interviews with each
particularly difficult. We also asked how their participant, exploring and documenting in greater
FIGURE 1
Sample Characteristics2011 Benjamin and O’Reilly 457
depth the leadership issues they described. The guarantee that the right learning— or any learn-
second interview was videotaped and used to pro- ing, for that matter—will occur simply because
duce a series of leadership video vignettes that we managers encounter a transitional moment. The
created for teaching purposes. situational and psychological demands of transi-
tion can be quite taxing and, if experienced as too
stressful, may preclude some individuals from ex-
THREE TYPES OF TRANSITION
pending the cognitive energy needed to adapt
The first goal of our study was to identify the situ- their existing routines. Indeed, research by DeRue
ations that MBA graduates struggled with early in and Wellman (2009) suggests that leadership skill
their careers. The logic driving our investigation development begins to diminish when experiences
was simple: If leadership learning is cumulative, move beyond an optimal level of difficulty, when
as some research suggests (Charan, Drotter, & there is little access to feedback, or when an indi-
Noel, 2001; McCall et al., 1988), then it is important vidual lacks the necessary learning orientation.
to understand what leaders must learn early in The extent to which a young leader successfully
their development if they are to progress and per- navigated the leadership transitions described in
form well in more senior roles. To the extent that our study depended on their ability to learn from
developing managers struggle early on or fail to the challenges brought about by a change in their
learn the right lessons from their experiences, they immediate context—for example, a job change or
are less likely to establish the foundation needed changes in important relationships. As we listened
to navigate and learn from even more demanding to our informants’ accounts, we came to realize
experiences later (McCall, 2010). Moreover, should that the experiences they described weren’t just
they handle the learning process poorly, the initial about managing transitions, they, in fact, created
impressions they make on others may have strong transitions.
and lasting effects, which could easily limit or There is an important distinction here that is
slow their access to subsequent opportunities (Wil- worth clarifying, namely, the difference between
lis & Todorov, 2006). As we tried to characterize the change and transition. Bridges (2004) observes that
situations and challenges described by our key change is situational, whereas transition is psy-
informants, it became evident that most involved chological. The circumstances that create a new
change and transition. In almost all cases, the situation—for example, a promotion, changing
informants described struggling with something business conditions, or differences with a boss—
they had not encountered before, usually a new set represent change. Transition, by contrast, is the
of circumstances that required them to tackle mul- process by which individuals work through, learn,
tiple challenges all at once. Often these chal- and come to terms with the new challenges and
lenges included rethinking (and letting go of) old conditions that change creates. The emerging
assumptions, developing new skills and attitudes, leaders in our study had to contend with changes
negotiating new relationships, renegotiating exist- that presented specific challenges, which in turn,
ing ones, and most difficult of all, changing their forced them to reexamine some of their most fun-
behavior and self-concept. As McCall (2010) has damental assumptions, working models, and prac-
pointed out, “When situations change dramati- tices. In short, they were forced to reevaluate and
cally, as is the case when a person is given an often adjust the very things that had made them
assignment that is quite different from what he or successful to date. To the extent young managers
she has done before, either development or derail- were able to figure out which assumptions and
ment may result” (701). behaviors to leave behind and which new ones to
Previous research on careers and leadership de- incorporate into their evolving repertoire, they ac-
velopment has demonstrated that transitions are complished the learning necessary for making im-
critical periods for learning and development and portant transitions in their leadership. If they
can be a defining element in managerial success did not, they would continue to struggle with the
or failure (e.g., Ibarra, 2003; Nicholson & West, same challenges until they ultimately mastered
1988). When things go well, individuals move from the appropriate learning or derailed.
one level of mastery to the next. For example, Hill’s As we analyzed our data, we were able to group
seminal study of first-time managers showed that the transitions described by our informants into
the transition from individual contributor to man- three broad categories. Each category was (1) trig-
ager was a time when individuals began develop- gered by a particular change in context, (2) had the
ing “not only managerial knowledge and skills, potential to instill a specific type of learning, and
but also managerial interests and a managerial (3) could be characterized by a single dominant
temperament” (Hill, 1992: 159). That said, there is no question (Table 1).458 Academy of Management Learning & Education September
TABLE 1
Early Career Transitions
Role Transitions Business Transitions Personal Transitions
Type of instigating Change in Role Change in business/stage in Situation creating values conflict
change organizational life cycle
Incidents identified by • From individual contributor • Launching a new initiative • Managing strategic differences
informants to first-time manager or business with a boss
• Taking responsibility for • Managing growth • Navigating and correcting
team performance • Turning around a group or ethically questionable practices
• Managing other managers business • Blending work, life, and family
• Managing transitions in • Taking a team/business to • Dealing with professional
function or scope the next level setbacks
Learning Role Requirements New Strategies and Tactics Judgment and Integrity
“What does it mean to be a “How can I get things done in “How do I stay true to myself?”
leader in this new role?” a different business context?”
The first category was role transitions. As the change, leading a significant business change
name suggests, these were transitions that oc- challenged implicit assumptions and rendered
curred after a manager took on a new role. The previous leadership tactics insufficient for dealing
specific role transitions described by our infor- with new demands. The difficulties that managers
mants involved the move from individual contrib- experience when leading during times of organi-
utor to first-time manager; from managing a few zational change has been described by Greiner
individuals to being accountable for a team; from (1998) and others who have studied the organiza-
managing teams to managing other managers; tional life cycle. This research suggests that tran-
and, from leading one functional domain to lead- sitions between an organization’s developmental
ing a different function or much broader business phases rarely go smoothly due to an inevitable
unit. Through these transitions, emerging leaders paradox: The very leadership styles and practices
learned how to lead new and different types of that help organizations thrive during one evolu-
people and how to shift priorities as they assumed tionary stage become entirely unsuitable for sus-
responsibility for larger, more complex units. Sur- taining them into the next. Consistent with our
prisingly, new role requirements were rarely informants’ accounts, Greiner observed that this
spelled out for early-career managers. Although paradox often “haunts and confuses the manage-
they often discussed the business objectives of a rial psyche,” as leaders struggle to understand
new role with their superiors, and they generally how the practices they used successfully at one
understood that the parameters of a new position point “eventually sow the seeds of their own de-
would be different (e.g., more people, different peo- cay” (Greiner, 1998: 5, 8).
ple, and different objectives), they were not usually Business transitions appeared to be less about
prepared for how their leadership would have to role and more about context. Consistent with the
change to address these differences. They had to task-related characteristics of developmental jobs
learn through trial and error about new demands, described by McCauley, Ruderman, Ohlott, and
expectations, and ways of working. And, through Morrow (1994), these transitions were triggered by
this trial and error, they sometimes discovered that challenges that emerged because of changing
their previous leadership practices were not only business conditions. In some cases, our informant-
insufficient to the demands of their new role, but managers remained in the same role, but the busi-
also capable of producing unintended conse- ness around them changed significantly. These sit-
quences that made the new job even more difficult. uations often involved managing growth. In other
Ultimately, the fundamental question that charac- cases, managers kept their role but were asked to
terized the transition around role change was head up new organizational initiatives designed to
“What does it mean to be a leader in this new fend off stagnation and enhance a company’s com-
role?” petitiveness. Last, some managers were placed in
Business transitions—more specifically, being new roles specifically to lead a business transi-
responsible for leading a significant change in the tion, for example, a turnaround effort. These lead-
business—were the second type of transition that ership transitions could be especially difficult be-
our informants struggled with. As with role cause they challenged relatively inexperienced2011 Benjamin and O’Reilly 459
managers to master new role requirements while their jobs typically believed there was nothing
simultaneously requiring them to figure out how to they could do to resolve the situation—they saw
lead strategic changes or organizational transfor- themselves as essentially powerless. Unfortu-
mation efforts. The fundamental question charac- nately, leaving the situation tended to slow their
terizing this type of transition was “How can I get learning. It allowed them to avoid self-examina-
things done in a very different business context?” tion and sidestep issues they found particularly
We labeled our third category personal transi- upsetting. In contrast, when young managers
tions. These involved personal conflicts that often chose to work through these values dilemmas or
put a developing leader’s values to the test. The other emotionally charged situations, the learning
fundamental question characterizing personal appeared to be quite significant. Emerging leaders
transitions was “How do I stay true to myself in the began to realize that managing values conflicts
face of competing values?” Personal transitions was not a one-time occurrence, but rather an inev-
were often triggered by situations that required itable and fundamental part of being a leader.
young managers to work their way through deli-
cate issues such as managing strategic differences
FOUR CHALLENGES
with a boss, dealing with ethically questionable
practices, or balancing the demands of work- and To better equip graduates for these key transitions,
family-life. These transitions also sometimes oc- we wanted to identify and understand the specific
curred in the wake of major mistakes or setbacks challenges they struggled with. A review and pars-
that forced young leaders to acknowledge limita- ing of the more than 125 incidents generated by the
tions and carefully evaluate what was most impor- 55 interviews suggested a host of challenges that
tant to them. confronted these managers early in their careers.
Personal transitions were often very emotionally Based on our coding and review, we identified four
charged. In fact, several young leaders in our study main themes or types of problems reported across
chose to leave their jobs rather than deal with the a majority of respondents (see Table 2). These four
emotional tensions surrounding a given situation. types could be further organized into two broad
Unlike those who worked through the challenges categories: (1) Challenges associated with manag-
more effectively, managers who decided to leave ing others, and (2) Challenges associated with
TABLE 2
Four Common Leadership Challenges
Managing Others
1. Managing and motivating subordinates
• Understanding others with different values and motives
• Appreciating the importance of B and C players—not just A players
• Listening to others rather than problem solving
• Establishing credibility—especially when others have more experience
• Being clear about what your value added is as a manager
• Dealing with poor performers and problem employees
• Setting clear expectations
2. Managing relationships with peers and bosses
• Recognizing the importance of relationships—process and content
• An inability to resolve differences with a boss
• The importance of understanding others’ priorities—not just your own
• Balancing competition and cooperation among peers
• Being right versus being effective—appreciating that peer conflicts taint all involved, regardless of who is “right”
Managing the Self
3. Developing a leadership mind-set
• Understanding that individual skill and effort are no longer what makes you successful
• Looking to solve problems—not simply identifying them
• Developing others
• Being intentional
• Deriving satisfaction from others’ success
4. Coping with setbacks and disappointments
• Maintaining poise and composure under pressure
• Understanding how you react to a setback may be more important than the setback itself
• Being overwhelmed
• Balancing work and family pressures460 Academy of Management Learning & Education September
managing oneself. Challenges managing others
could be further segmented into difficulties man- The critical recognition for these new
aging and motivating subordinates, and difficul- leaders was appreciating that their
ties managing relationships with peers and bosses. performance was no longer a function of
Similarly, challenges managing oneself could be their own skill and effort but contingent
divided into developing a leadership mind-set and
on their ability to unleash the talent of
coping with personal setbacks and disappoint-
ments. Many of the individual challenges did not those who worked for them.
map neatly onto specific transitions; rather, any
one transition might involve challenges from any
number of these categories. Our data are too lim- Confronted with the reality that not all people
ited to definitively assess whether specific chal- shared their levels of motivation and skill, several
lenges were more prevalent during some transi- respondents talked about the challenge of manag-
tions than others. Nonetheless, a preliminary ing “real” people—and the importance of getting
review suggests that developing a leadership the engagement of all employees. As one former
mind-set and difficulties managing and motivat- Navy SEAL said, “You can’t project your level of
ing subordinates were common challenges men- motivation onto others.” An entrepreneur with his
tioned when describing role transitions. Similarly, own start-up talked about the need to create a
difficulties managing relationships with peers and “crusade” to motivate his employees, since he
bosses appeared to be more prevalent when nav- could not afford to motivate them with money. An-
igating business transitions. Coping with setbacks other young leader in the entertainment business
and disappointments were central to successfully described how important it was to not only find the
navigating personal transitions. “A players . . . but also about developing the B, C &
D players.” Acknowledging these differences,
many of the informants came to realize:
Managing Others
When asked to describe their most difficult lead- No one model works to motivate all peo-
ership challenges to date, informants typically be- ple . . . You have to understand each person
gan by describing issues or problems they experi- and their interests . . . My job is to get people
enced in their efforts to manage subordinates. This not to hit the snooze button on the alarm each
is understandable because these issues frequently morning.
coincided with their very first managerial assign-
ments. In addition, however, many informants also [Business School] doesn’t prepare you to man-
described problems managing difficult relation- age a wide swatch of people . . . the most
ships with other individuals, namely, their peers or difficult part of my job is the people aspect.
bosses. As such, these challenges required emerg-
ing leaders to learn important lessons about man- One informant who was failing in his role as a
aging laterally and upward, as well as downward. manager lamented:
Managing people is a headache . . . you have
Managing and Motivating Subordinates
to deal with different personalities, perfor-
The most common theme mentioned in one form or mance reviews, and (all their) prob-
another by almost all informants centered on the lems . . . You feel responsible for their career
challenge of managing and motivating people development and guilty if there aren’t oppor-
with different skills and values from themselves. A tunities for them.
common tendency of young managers, especially
high achievers, is to assume that others share their To succeed, young managers came to appreciate
values and motivations. In her study of new man- the importance of listening without judgment and
agers, Hill (1992) came to a similar conclusion, not- demonstrating empathy to build trust. A young di-
ing that young managers often assumed they visional manager expressed surprise at the num-
could use themselves as role models in under- ber of personal problems he had to deal with. “The
standing how to manage their subordinates and, technical aspect is not all that hard . . . my people
over time, came to realize “how limiting it was to typically come to me with problems about people.”
use themselves as models for predicting how oth- Reflecting this challenge, another young manager
ers would interpret situations or respond to their in a large financial institution described how he
actions” (170). kept an ongoing document with notes about each2011 Benjamin and O’Reilly 461
employee so that he could be more helpful in pro- did not. A variant of this was to assume that sub-
viding feedback. Often, this feedback was not ordinates understood and agreed about what they
about problem solving but simply about demon- were supposed to accomplish. But young manag-
strating interest and concern: “As a new manager ers frequently discovered that they had failed to
you have to recognize that your direct reports adequately clarify expectations at the outset. For
do not always want you to ‘fix’ or ‘solve’ their prob- instance, one respondent described how he ini-
lems. Often, they just want to be heard and under- tially treated his subordinates as “partners”
stood.” The risk, as another observed, was that if a (rather than underlings), only to realize that doing
manager was always providing answers for sub- so confused people about expectations and, there-
ordinates, they would fail to create a team that felt fore, made it more difficult to call people on poor
responsible for results. Instead, the team would performance. Another informant echoed this les-
always look to the leader for solutions. son and talked about how she learned that being
But this advice, to listen and be empathetic, also clear about performance expectations helped her
had a downside when it came to dealing with poor feel “less guilty” when she had to fire people who
performers. Here, too, new managers often strug- weren’t living up to those expectations. She went
gled. Confronted with a problem employee, young on to note that letting go of poor performers was
managers often either ignored the issue or became critical because invariably poor performers af-
overly involved in trying to help the poor per- fected their teams. “It is,” she said, “disrespectful
former. Others unfortunately, often misinterpreted to the team not to let the poor performer go.” An-
their attention as legitimating the problematic be- other young manager observed that unless he set
havior. As the CEO of a start-up noted, “One neg- clear standards, it was hard for people to hear
ative person affects everyone.” In her study of new critical feedback.
managers, Linda Hill recognized this problem. In the absence of clear expectations, early-
“When asked to identify what was most stressful career managers tended to avoid performance is-
about their jobs, most new managers replied with-
sues or tried to solve subordinates’ problems them-
out hesitation that it was the problem subordinate”
selves. With their analytic skills and strong prob-
(1992: 133).
lem solving capabilities, many MBAs simply forgot
With experience, young managers came to real-
about the people aspect: “The people part of my
ize the importance of dealing with poor performers
job, it’s never top of mind for me . . . I need to
quickly. Many started to realize that “[i]n almost
consciously think about it.” As they developed
every case, peers were relieved to see the poor
their managerial capabilities, some informants be-
performer go.”
gan to realize that setting clear expectations was
only part of the solution; it was also important to
I delayed for 6 months in letting the person
go, which was regrettable and tainted the articulate a vision that motivated subordinates to
organization. It slowed our growth rate and pursue expectations by engaging them emotion-
led to internal politics. Then the person quit ally. “Employees see past the money,” said one.
with only 7 days notice—which created a “You need to make people feel like they are invalu-
hardship for the team. able, irreplaceable . . . even though no one really
is.” A young vice-president in a large financial
Saying “no” and discussing poor performance institution confessed that she was initially uncom-
is a challenge for a lot of [MBA] students be- fortable with the concept of a vision statement,
cause most haven’t had setbacks. But, in the considering such efforts as too “airy-fairy.” But as
real world, 7 out of 10 things go wrong. You she experimented with new approaches, she was
must be able to discuss performance issues surprised by how much her employees responded
and expectations without being an to having a well-articulated vision. “They’d been
[expletive]. in the desert and needed some water.” In talking
about the importance of setting a vision, another
The common underlying theme when dealing informant argued that it was essential for subordi-
with people issues again had to do with beliefs nates to see the big picture to get them motivated
and assumptions our informants had drawn from and excited about their work. In short, a key lesson
their own past experiences and success. Often, for many young managers was learning how to
their tendency was to assume that their subordi- express emotion in ways that allowed them to con-
nates held the same motivations and aspirations vey passion and create authentic connections with
that they did when, in fact, the subordinates often their subordinates.462 Academy of Management Learning & Education September
Relationships With Peers and Bosses critical knowledge and experience leave or don’t
cooperate.” Afterward, his advice to younger man-
Many of the managers we interviewed described
agers was always to “treat your peers as though
difficult relationships with peers and bosses as
they might someday be your boss or direct re-
another significant challenge. As with the previ-
ports.”
ous theme, working through these challenges often
Several informants reflected on how poor rela-
produced significant learning, which, in turn, facil-
tionships with peers made both sides look bad—
itated the leadership transitions described earlier.
regardless of who was actually responsible for a
Once again, these difficulties often arose because
conflict. For example, one manager described a
of the propensity to prioritize task-related concerns
conflict with a peer who was heading another unit
over relationship-building concerns. Young man- but failing to provide the support she believed was
agers initially had a tendency to apply their own appropriate.
skills and effort to resolving problems rather than
undertaking the messier task of involving others. He wasn’t as smart as I was . . . I thought he
As with the first theme, these were sometimes ex- was a whiner. He wasn’t managing his team
acerbated by the assumption that others shared well. I thought he was an idiot. I didn’t see it
the same goals and motivations as the rookie man- as my job to solve his problem . . . he needed
ager. Over time, however, young managers came to [expletive] lead his team.
to understand that performance in organizations
was seldom a matter of individual achievement or
even a single group. They began to appreciate that
being successful often required coordination and
For the MBA graduates in our study,
cooperation across unit boundaries. transitional periods were a time of great
potential and great risk.
I was 2–3 years out of business school and I
was used to being in situations where you
could get by on intellect and hard, diligent As she continued to struggle with her peer, she
work. I now realize how important social re- came to realize, “my problem with my peer was a
lationships are—if there are relationship problem for my boss, and you don’t want to be a
building opportunities (i.e., social), you problem for your boss.” With more experience, she
should be there. learned to soften her interactions: “It doesn’t mat-
ter who is right or who is wrong, if your boss has to
How well you work with peers is important resolve the conflict both parties are tainted.” Like
because you need to be able to get things other managers, she concluded that it was more
done and accomplish your goals. You don’t important to be effective than to be right.
get anything done by yourself. You have to be Perhaps the most troubling of these relationship
able to work with others across functions and issues occurred when problems arose with the per-
divisions to be successful. son’s boss. Several respondents acknowledged
that problems with a boss had led to missed pro-
Even if you think you know the answer, you motions or, in several cases, the manager’s deci-
have to bring others along. This is especially sion to leave the organization. For example, sev-
critical when you have to reach decisions that eral graduates described taking jobs where
cross functional areas. You have to win peo- subsequent disagreements with their bosses ne-
ple over one by one. cessitated their leaving, either because of what
they felt were ethical issues or because the rela-
One young manager described how in his first tionship led to unfavorable performance reviews.
role in a business development function he vied In two of these cases, rather than emphasizing
aggressively to get visibility with his superiors. As their achievements, the managers’ performance
a result, he demonstrated he could do deals and evaluations highlighted their lack of teamwork
was subsequently promoted to head his unit. But and sensitivity to others. In a third case, the person
his competitiveness alienated his peers, and three delivered what he believed to be a success only to
of the five people in his group quit shortly after he learn that he had failed to clarify important prior-
was promoted. As one might imagine, this didn’t ities with his boss, and therefore, missed the mark.
send a particularly good signal. Luckily, because In several other cases, however, differences with
of this experience, he quickly learned “[y]ou can’t a boss were resolved successfully. In one instance,
be successful in a new role if those below you with the subordinate was able to build a coalition of2011 Benjamin and O’Reilly 463
others who helped to overturn what she believed and rewarded, most informants had become suc-
was an ethical breach by the superior. In another, cessful by demonstrating their ability to solve
the young manager was able to calmly articulate problems on their own. However, as managers, the
his differences with his boss, which led his boss to very things that had made them successful in their
change his views. Because of these experiences, individual contributor roles were no longer as im-
many informants emphasized the importance of portant—and in some cases were problematic.
clarifying priorities and expectations with the su- Many young managers discovered that trying to
perior as early as possible. This could be done in a gain visibility for themselves, demonstrating their
variety of ways, such as putting priorities in writ- analytic prowess, and simply working longer and
ing or getting to know the boss at a personal level harder would not serve them well when leading
to facilitate open exchanges and keep the boss in others. They had to change—not only their behav-
the loop with frequent updates. Studies of manage- ior, but the very assumptions that guided their
ment careers have shown that the inability to craft behavior. What was required was a new set of
a successful relationship with a superior can be a assumptions—a new leadership mind-set.
significant derailer (McCall, 1998; Van Velsor & Looking back on some of their most trying expe-
Leslie, 1995). riences, many of these emerging leaders com-
As with the previous theme, the challenges of mented on the difficulty of letting go of old as-
managing difficult relationships with peers and sumptions and work habits:
superiors again reflect the respondents’ earlier
strengths of problem solving and individual It was a big shift for me to let go of my exper-
achievement. If unchecked, the tendency of many tise (i.e., doing things myself). My job became
of these young managers was to assume that oth- setting goals, motivating, holding people ac-
ers shared their focus on getting the right answer countable, providing resources, and assign-
and to ignore or underplay the importance of rela- ing projects. I didn’t get much training in this.
tionships. When faced with conflict, many resorted If you continue to use the “just put your head
to logic and analysis. “I’m used to presenting a down and work approach,” you’ll shoot your-
powerful case—the logic and course of action nec- self in the foot . . . you’ll crash and burn. You
essary—and it’s easy for me to fall into this pattern have to get your work done through others,
and enter into a debate. I’m trying not to do this,” even when there are only 2–3 people.
said a manager in the entertainment business. For
many, it was only after a setback that they realized For instance, one graduate described his atti-
the importance of clarifying expectations and nur- tude as a young manager: “I was a real pain in the
turing relationships. ass for my boss. I would fire off missives identify-
ing all sorts of problems.” Later he realized that his
role as a manager was not just to identify problems
Managing Oneself
but to take responsibility for solving them, often
Although the proximal problems described by without being asked and even when they were
young managers often began with the challenges beyond his formal scope of responsibility. This
of managing others, many of our informants ulti- usually entailed working with and through others.
mately recognized that their own thinking needed The leader of a private school described moving
to change if they were to be effective leaders lon- from a mind-set of thinking about how he could get
ger term. Not only did they have to think differently the most out himself to one where “I can develop
about their role, they also had to think differently others and help them get better.” Making such
about their goals and priorities, their orientation recognitions required these emerging leaders to
toward others, and the basis of their accomplish- fundamentally shift their assumptions about their
ments. In short, to be effective they had to shift roles from independence to interdependence.
their mind-set about who they were and what they The critical recognition for these new leaders
needed to accomplish. This also entailed figuring was appreciating that their performance was no
out how to weather the inevitable mistakes and longer a function of their own skill and effort but
setbacks that would be a critical part of their learn- contingent on their ability to unleash the talent of
ing and personal growth. those who worked for them. “[Y]our performance is
completely a function of other peoples’ perfor-
mance. Your primary responsibility is building a
Developing a Leadership Mind-Set
team, not just fixing immediate problems,” said
Having worked in roles where hard work, intelli- one respondent. Several informants noted how
gence, and strong analytic skills were expected threatening this recognition was. If they could noYou can also read
