I work in marketing for a very small company. Recently, I was promoted to manager and shortly thereafter my boss, the marketing director, left. He has not been replaced, but my old position has since been filled, and this new person reports to me. Basically, what this means is that I’m responsible for all my company’s promotional efforts; nearly every department relies on me and my new associate for support. This is also my first time managing someone.

       My concern is that I’m in over my head. The person I report to now is a vice president, and while she’s super sharp, she has no background in marketing whatsoever. As a consequence, I feel I have nowhere to turn when I need guidance or direction. I’m also convinced I don’t have enough experience to support/coach my new associate in the way he deserves. I’d love to prove myself up to the challenge, but as things stand, I think the best thing for me—and the company—would be to look for a new marketing director. Should I suggest this to my boss? Or simply power through and hope for the best? I feel really overwhelmed, and worry about burnout… – Name withheld

Do not—I repeat—DO NOT ask your employer to hire someone to replace your old boss.

Or at least not if you see yourself as having any sort of future whatsoever with this organization.

Whether it is by circumstance or design, the job of marketing director seems to be yours now. It is unfortunate you don’t feel up to the challenge, but communicating your doubts about your ability to handle the role—as admirable as that may seem—will only ensure that your employer will always, always, always thinks twice before giving you any additional responsibility.

Consider the situation from their perspective for a moment:

Yes – your organization would likely benefit from the additional experience and/or expertise a more seasoned marketing director might bring – just as you would no doubt benefit from having such a person serve as your mentor. But in your employer’s eyes they already have a marketing director: You. The work seems to be getting done (even if it’s not up to your standards), so why then go to the trouble—much less incur the cost—of hiring someone else? And since you don’t say anything about having gotten a raise, I assume you’re doing all of this at your old level of pay as well?

That means they’re getting a new director at a bargain too.

What then should you do?

Well, since you don’t feel ready for the role, I’d float the idea of serving as “Interim Director” to your manager instead. This will do a couple of things for you:

First, it should clarify whether or not your company is actually looking for a new director already. They may well be, and just haven’t told you.

It may also prod them to offer you the position more formally. If so, now’s the time to talk about what sort of support you might need to successfully make this transition, or your misgivings – and you’ll be able to do so without losing any professional face. If not, at very least it signals to management you know what’s up: That you’re doing your boss’ old job, and you’re doing it for cheap.

(Resist the urge to succumb to “imposter syndrome” here. Just because you currently don’t feel up for role doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be paid appropriately, given that’s the job you’re actually doing right now.)

And one final reason to ask for the interim title: If you do go down in a big ball of flames, as you fear, at least you’ll walk away from the experience with a flattering title and line or two to add to your resume. I sincerely doubt, however, it’ll come to that. As motivated as they may be to turn you into their marketing director, they’re likely even more motivated not to lose you. That’s your power here.

In the meantime, managing your new associate is the easy part, believe it or not. Here’s all you need to do:

Be the manager that you would want in this circumstance.

Explain the situation to your associate just as you’ve explained it to me – that you don’t feel as qualified as you’d like, or as they perhaps deserve. But nevertheless assure them you’re determined to do your very best, and are committed to both the success of the organization, and seeing them excel professionally too. This will go a long way towards establishing a sense trust between the two of you.

And nothing, I repeat nothing is more important to good management than the trust of your employees.

Then the two of you—working together—can begin to come up with a plan to cope with the enormous workload you’ve been saddled with, and the daunting challenges you both now face.