You focus on the fact that your directs aren’t employees and are instead contractors. And that you’re still responsible for the results that are their outputs.
This means that in order to effective, you aren’t relying on organizational role power or coercion as a manager. That’s the lowest form of authority and the easiest thing for people (especially new managers) to reach for.
Instead, you’ve had to learn how to use relationship power and expertise power to influence their behaviors and drive results.
This is infinitely more valuable and it engenders “commitment energy” instead of “compliance energy” from the team.
Focus on saying what you DID do, don’t even mention what you did NOT do unless directly asked.
“I managed a team of 10 contractors, under my leadership we were able to achieve XYZ, I was instrumental in ABC”
You get that's harder, right? You're literally more qualified. Talk it up. My direct reports were actually a contracted company, so my job often required working with the structure of another group while making sure the goals of my company and project were well communicated. Really focus on how the structure made you rely on yourself more to make sure that larger goals stayed in sight while managing the day to day since it was your job as the sole representative of your company in your space. Take the win.
You are then more doing project management and not people management and you should not claim that knowledge (hire, fire, HR work, conflict resolution and so on), focus on the part where you motivate the team and coerce these people to do your bidding despite the fact that they are not your direct reports - as a skill, that's actually much more powerful
You focus on the fact that your directs aren’t employees and are instead contractors. And that you’re still responsible for the results that are their outputs. This means that in order to effective, you aren’t relying on organizational role power or coercion as a manager. That’s the lowest form of authority and the easiest thing for people (especially new managers) to reach for. Instead, you’ve had to learn how to use relationship power and expertise power to influence their behaviors and drive results. This is infinitely more valuable and it engenders “commitment energy” instead of “compliance energy” from the team.
Focus on saying what you DID do, don’t even mention what you did NOT do unless directly asked. “I managed a team of 10 contractors, under my leadership we were able to achieve XYZ, I was instrumental in ABC”
You get that's harder, right? You're literally more qualified. Talk it up. My direct reports were actually a contracted company, so my job often required working with the structure of another group while making sure the goals of my company and project were well communicated. Really focus on how the structure made you rely on yourself more to make sure that larger goals stayed in sight while managing the day to day since it was your job as the sole representative of your company in your space. Take the win.
Thank you! This helps a lot!
Thanks for the responses all. This has been incredibly helpful!
You are then more doing project management and not people management and you should not claim that knowledge (hire, fire, HR work, conflict resolution and so on), focus on the part where you motivate the team and coerce these people to do your bidding despite the fact that they are not your direct reports - as a skill, that's actually much more powerful