Jim Stevenson explains how to shift from individual contributor to leader, starting with equipping new hires before they arrive. He introduces the concept of a leader's "first team" as their peer executives, not their department, which reframes where a leader's primary loyalty and collaboration should go.
Give people the toolkit before they get the job and then give them the support after they get the job. Help them explain that you're no longer their friend. You can still be their friend outside of work, but it's a challenging dynamic to have and help them manage it. There was a concept more at a leadership level which I did like, which was your first team and your second team. If I go to the chief marketing officer of a company and say, what is your team? Instantly, what they'll tell me is, "I lead the the marketing team. The marketing is my team." It's like, "No, that's your second team. Your first team is your leadership team. So your first team is the leaders that you work with, your peers. So your team to make the company successful isn't the marketing team. That's the team you lead. Your peers and your team are the chief technology officer, the chief operating officer." The chief strategy, the customer services people, that leadership.
