We would never hire an engineer, actuary or software developer without giving them a brief, clarifying expectations and making sure they have the relevant skills.

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Yet when we promote someone into management, we often do exactly that.

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We promote them because they are excellent at what they do. Then, almost overnight, we expect them to know how to set expectations, give difficult feedback, handle conflict, develop people, let go of control and hold others accountable.

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But management is not simply the same job with more responsibility.

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It is a different job.

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The person who was valued for having the answers must now learn how to help other people think.

This person built their reputation by delivering excellent work and must now learn to create the conditions for others to deliver.

They were rewarded for stepping in and solving problems and must now recognise when stepping in is actually preventing someone else from growing.

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None of this happens automatically because someone has been given a new title.

And when a new manager struggles, the organisation may call it a performance problem.

Sometimes it is. Managers need to take responsibility for their learning and growth.

But often the organisation has skipped an essential part of the transition and is now judging the individual for not knowing what nobody taught them.

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If you are promoting someone into management, define what good management looks like.

Teach the relevant skills.

Give them coaching, honest feedback and room to practise.

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I spoke about this in a short video here.

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Take a look at the managers in your organisation. Are they avoiding difficult conversations, holding on to too much work, struggling to create accountability or repeatedly stepping in to solve their team’s problems?

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This is work I help organisations address. I support technically strong managers to make the shift from being the expert who delivers the work to the leader who develops people, creates accountability and builds a team that can perform without everything running through them.

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If this is something you are seeing in your organisation, hit reply and tell me what you’re noticing.

We can have an initial conversation about where the gap may be and what kind of support would be helpful.

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Any questions?

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