So, I have been promoted to a ”Head of” and feel like I am drowning…

[Allthegearnoidea2025]

This was in March and I had a fair payrise, the responsibility mainly involves geographical expansion of responsibilities and one major project.

It has added to my workload but I was coping.

In the weeks everything blew up at the top… and a big Titanic of another team is heading my way. I cannot say no, as I flew that rocket to the Moon few years back, the business restructured and took it off me, now it’s been handed back to me, broken to build back up with zero resources to support yet another increase in workload. Asking for more money is not answer on its own, and I cannot refuse taking this on. I feel like manage every minute detail of whatever I do still like an individual contributor but am expected to lead like a director (I am referred to as such internally but not really my job title). It’s a large corporate organisation.

My boss is not a details person - the moment an idea is mentioned, in his mind I have taken care of it.

Please can someone help me navigate this? I feel like I should step up and act as a director, instead I am like a little girl trying to please my boss, keep my team operational and not fall asleep at 6 pm when DH gets home. I have lost my way.

This happened to me. I was on 4 days a week heading for retirement and got handed a whole new division in disarray. Fortunately I am a master at delegation so I sorted out my management team and just focused my time on the few things that mattered. We turned it around in 6 months. I also made sure that the extra responsibility was accompanied by a pay rise. Don't do it for nothing.

I’m in a similar position to you OP except I applied for a director position. It’s a big adjustment and in the first couple of months I really wondered what I’d got myself into. I think that’s pretty normal.

If you’re going to survive, you need good, reliable people to help. I have a large team but my 4 direct reports are brilliant. We’ve just landed a massive project and if I was flying solo, it would not be possible but we’re handling it as a team.

Ignore some of the unhelpful comments on here. If you’re struggling, you can absolutely grow into the role but you will need a good team to help.

So me saying “get a bloomin job description”
you have translated as me saying “you’re an utter fool”

ok.

First thing I would do (after a momentary panic) is an assessment of who you have in the team(s) and what they are capable of/want to do. You need a succession plan, you need people you can delegate to and you need solid workers who are content in their current position and get shit done. The people who are not pulling their weight need to be told that and you take the pain of the extra work now and start the task of improving them or managing them out.

put together a RACI for the entire team. What are the core repeatable activities that absolutely must be done? What is the impact if they aren’t done - financial, contractual, regulatory…? Who is Responsible for doing them, Accountable if they aren’t done, Contributes to doing them and Informed about their progress. How long does each activity take, what is the volume and the frequency.

From that activity you will be able to calculate whether the ‘Must Do’ work actually can be done with the resource. You can then go armed to discussions with your leadership team with a very well structured proposal asking for either headcount or for them to decide which mandatory tasks will be dropped and which impact they will need to absorb as a business cost.

Put everything in writing, if your company has a risk register make sure these risks are on it, be proactive in highlighting the issue, providing a solution and getting their sign off on what compromises they are choosing to tolerate.

@Limon87 ’s suggestion is great. Ask for a coach or mentor. Someone who can help you navigate the transition.

I regularly take on this role in my organisation and will typically have a half-hour+ 1:1 with my coachee every day while they get more familiar with things and find their footing. Most of the time is spent just helping them get their thoughts together and giving them a bit of a steer.

If it makes you feel any better, most c-suite incumbents in big organisations will have had a coach, both to get ready for the new position, and then to navigate the change and settle in.

(BTW please don’t “ask HR for your job description”! However you might want some sessions with whomever you report to, to make sure you are both aligned on your objectives.)

No, you need to delegate to the team and stop feeling like you still have to be hands-on with everything. I know it feels easier said than done but it’s the only way you avoid screwing yourself into the ground. And, as a head of, it’s how you’re expected to operate.

I have just finished a year long secondment as a head of, boy was a glad to finish. You’re effectively the sandwich filling between the directors and everyone else, which was fun along with sandwiching between DS starting uni and elderly DPs coming off the rails.

First things first, they need to tell you if you are a Head of or a Director. They are very different positions and it’s almost impossible to be operationally focused ( Head of) and strategic ( Director level) at the same time. I don’t see how you can proceed without a job description and why you are reluctant to ask for one.
Secondly, you do have some power here. You don’t have to say yes to everything without imposing some of your own conditions. I would ruthlessly go through everything you are personally doing and decide - without necessarily having the resources in place to take it on - what could be delegated and what could be dropped. Now do this for the teams. see if there are any duties that are nice to haves and can be dropped or frequency reduced.

If there is still more work than capacity, then ask for more resource. If they say no, then you have a further list of lower priority items that can no longer be delivered.

Thirdly don’t doubt yourself. I bet you are doing a far better job than you think.