Absolutely this! It's because that transition isn’t just a skill shift, it’s an identity one.
Most new managers are still rewarded, praised, and comfortable being good at the work, so letting go of the doing can feel like losing value. But leadership is less about output and more about standards, decisions, and conversations.
That gap between being great at the work and being great through people, is where most managers get stuck, and exactly why it feels so hard. H
it's like we have one brain :) I wrote about my experience with this transition and the key questions that helped me navigate it here. I really think we are doing great people a disservice by promoting them to a people management role and not helping them navigate the transition with practical, emotional and mental tools
The transition from “doing the thing” to leading people who are doing the thing is one of the hardest ones to navigate
Absolutely this! It's because that transition isn’t just a skill shift, it’s an identity one.
Most new managers are still rewarded, praised, and comfortable being good at the work, so letting go of the doing can feel like losing value. But leadership is less about output and more about standards, decisions, and conversations.
That gap between being great at the work and being great through people, is where most managers get stuck, and exactly why it feels so hard. H
it's like we have one brain :) I wrote about my experience with this transition and the key questions that helped me navigate it here. I really think we are doing great people a disservice by promoting them to a people management role and not helping them navigate the transition with practical, emotional and mental tools