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You’ve been promoted to management. Congratulations! There’s no doubt your hard work and consistency as an individual contributor got you here. But what now? Transitioning into a leadership role is as much an achievement as a challenge. You might be excited about the opportunity, but equally unsure how to guide others when you’ve spent so much time excelling as an individual. In startups and fast-growing teams, where roles evolve quickly, making this transition well is crucial—not only for your success, but for the success of your team and entire organisation. (No pressure!).
To set yourself up for success, consider some of these key shifts you'll have to make to navigate the transition successfully.
1. From Individual Contributor to Team Enabler
When you’ve spent most of your career as an individual contributor, success often means meeting your own goals and delivering results directly. But as a leader, your focus changes. Your success comes from helping your team achieve their best work. Instead of solving problems alone, your role is to guide others, helping them find their own solutions and grow more confident.
How to Make It Work:
Start with open-ended questions to your direct reports: “What approach do you think would work best?”
No matter how motivated you are to share your wealth of knowledge, give your team the space to explore and experiment before you rush in with advice.
Celebrate your direct report's successes publicly and one-to-one to reinforce their efforts and progress.
Reflection:
Who were the managers you loved working with and what, specifically, did they do? How do you feel about shouting about your team’s achievements more than your own individual contributions? How can you ensure you continue to get the feedback you need to feel motivated in your new role?
2. From “Doing It All” to Delegating With Intention
Many new managers find delegation difficult. You might feel that things will go faster if you handle them yourself or worry that the task won’t be done to your standards. But if you have all the answers and own all of the work, it leaves no space for your employees to stretch into. Making room for others to grow builds trust and helps your team gain new skills and confidence. When you consider that managers now have 51% more tasks than they can effectively manage, delegating is essential.
How to Make It Work:
Delegate challenges you're working on rather than tasks to be completed. When employees feel trusted and empowered to go look for solutions they will feel much more invested and engaged.
Let employees raise their hand for stretch assignments. If you share the projects and challenges on your radar and ask who wants to work on them with you, you let people lean into their strengths and interest areas proactively.
Reflection:
What currently might hold you back from delegating?
What does that tell you about yourself as a leader?
How can delegating become a strength for you and your team?
3. From Peer to Leader Transitioning into a leadership role often means managing people who were once your peers. This can feel awkward at first, but it’s also an opportunity to build trust through open communication and a deep understanding of the previous culture and dynamics.
How to Make It Work:
Take time to get to know your peers as individuals. Understand what drives each person and where they’d like to grow, so you can support with impact.
Have one-on-one conversations to discuss your new role and how to work best together going forward. Involve everyone in designing new team rituals.
Be mindful of the new dynamic. Even if you think things will be the same, recognise that becoming a leader will change things. Stay open and proactively seek feedback and input as you go.
Reflection:
How would you want your manager to engage with you if they had recently been your peer?
How can you ensure your team continues to share honestly with you in your new role? What might you need to rethink or do differently as you make this transition?
4. From “Managing Up” to “Managing Up and Down”
Your role as a manager isn’t just about supporting your team. It is also about managing your relationship with senior leadership. Managing up effectively means understanding the priorities of your leaders, advocating for your team, and ensuring alignment between the two. By acting as a bridge, you help your team succeed while making it easier for leadership to support you in return.
How to Make It Work:
Stay aligned with leadership priorities. Regularly check in with your own manager to understand their expectations and how your team’s work connects to broader company goals.
Advocate for your team. Ensure leadership is aware of key challenges, successes, and resource needs. Present this information in a way that helps drive action.
Keep communication flowing. Share relevant insights from leadership with your team to provide clarity, context and a strong sense of purpose.
Reflection:
How well do you understand what your manager needs from you? How can you bring together advocating for your team and alignment with company goals? What small adjustments could improve communication both up and down the chain?
5. From “Reacting to Problems” to “Leading Proactively”
Leaders who are always in reactive mode end up feeling like they’re putting out fires instead of guiding their teams. A proactive approach helps you set direction, anticipate challenges and give your team clarity on their priorities.
How to Make It Work:
Schedule time to review your strategic goals and identify any potential roadblocks.
Consider building a ‘to think’ list as well as a ‘to do’ list to ensure you give adequate time to the longer term vision and strategy.
Clearly communicate your vision, so your team understands where you’re heading and how their work fits into the bigger picture.
Reflection:
What steps could you take this week to be more proactive in your leadership?
How would your team benefit from a clearer sense of direction?
How will you know if you’re shifting from reactive to proactive mode?
Balancing the Transition
Making the shift from doer to leader doesn’t require you to abandon all the skills that made you successful. It’s really about building on them and deploying them in new ways. Great managers are always improving. No one has all the answers and mistakes are part of the learning process. By focusing on these key shifts, you’ll build the foundation for a stronger, more capable team.
Experiential Learning: Leading by Example
At Managers Matter, we emphasise the power of experiential learning. In our coaching sessions, managers experience coaching first hand to understand its impact, followed by debriefs to unpack the process and apply it to their teams. This cycle of learning, reflecting and applying creates leaders who are intentional, adaptable and effective.
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