Five Dumb New Manager Mistakes That Make Your Life Harder
Just because they’re common, doesn’t mean they’re right
Congratulations.
You did it. You got the promotion. But despite all your effort, this is when the real work starts.
What got you here won’t be enough. You’ll need to become a leader now.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably get chucked in and told to ‘figure it out’. In a desperate attempt to do a good job, you’ll look to tropes and clichés. The ‘obvious advice’ everyone gives.
And as a result, you’ll make the same mistakes all new managers make.
I’ve been coaching leaders for over a decade. Learn from my pain and learn from theirs.
Catch yourself before you make these mistakes. Future you’ll be grateful.
#1. Using approval as a metric for effectiveness
Too many potentially excellent managers destroy their burgeoning careers as leaders by chasing pats on the back and fist bumps.
I mean I get it. We all want to be liked. You’d be weird if you didn’t care at all. But now you’re El Jefe, other things are more important. Things like actually getting work done.
You don’t want to be like the step parent who lets the kids have ice cream for dinner in an effort to win them over. It might work as a one-off, but as a strategy? You’re going to end up with some pretty unhealthy kids. And as their teeth fall out from all that sugar, those smiles will start to look a lot less cute too.
Approval is for puppy dogs and school kids.
When you step into the big leagues of management, having the kind of mindset that needs approval will erode your credibility. People will smell the desperation. And they’ll be able to control you.
Leaders of all levels need to be particularly wary of this last part. You cannot, cannot, leave yourself vulnerable to manipulation and control.
Put the ice cream back in the freezer and save it for the special events.
#2. Swinging the axe
New leaders who make massive changes straight away are almost always making a terrible mistake. For two reasons.
One, you need to establish and understand a baseline first. Otherwise you’ve no way to measure if your changes are effective or not.
Two, you don’t know what previous problems the things you’re ‘fixing’ were already solving. Sudden changes can bring the whole operation to a standstill.
But what about the obvious stuff like firing dead wood?
It’s too early yet to know who’s actually good. Some people can present as good for short periods. Hell even I can seem perfect for 24 hours.
You don’t know if people were underperforming because of the previous regime’s actions. Or even the effect your new energy and direction might have on people’s drive.
So bide your time. You’ll get the chance to fire soon if you really need to (you ruthless tyrant, you).
#3. Trying to be a ‘cool’ boss
Some people try to get around this by hotwiring friendship with their staff, then leveraging this to get things done.
But you are not here to be friends with your team.
Sure, you can be. If you want. But if that’s the goal, you’re weakening your leadership capital. Because, gun to your head, do you have it in you to ‘be the bad guy’ with your friends?
Most people can’t hack it. They’ll take the easy path and:
- Avoid having difficult conversations
- Dilute feedback
- Choose to be indirect with bad news
- Leave awkward problems unaddressed
You get the picture.
As a leader, your number one priority is getting things done. Sometimes it means making the unpopular decision, and sometimes it means doing something nobody else is going to understand.
If you’re not comfortable with this, you’re in the wrong job. Because it does a disservice to your team if you can’t step up and do these things when it’s necessary.
And it does a disservice to you.
#4. “My way or the highway”
Leaders need to be agile. They must adapt. Because business never sleeps. It’s always changing. You evolve or you die.
At the start it can be tempting to want to get every single person aligned behind rigid rules and SOPs. But you don’t want a team of automatons. Structure is important, but don’t try to control everything.
Establish principles in the team that align with your values. Then give your team the freedom to digest and apply these in a personal way. Lay out expectations and goals, frameworks you want them to follow, the leave them to find their own way there.
You’ll boost individual engagement and autonomy while maintaining alignment.
That’s powerful stuff.
#5. Managing work (without managing the people)
The pressure mounts. The deadlines loom. The tasks expand.
A habit a lot of new leaders fall into is obsessing over the job items to complete, and delegating them among staff like each person is just an equal node on a motherboard. All with identical bandwidth and memory.
But states of output are transitory. Personal capacity shifts.
Trying to fight against someone’s possible volume will waste your energy, compromise your goals, and burn out your employees. So a smart manager adjusts workload appropriately as a response.
They still use systems. That’s crucial. But by accounting for the individuals in your team, you’re ensuring you’ve considered the variables that can derail output.
Put employees first. Make sure you’re doing all you can to support them emotionally, mentally, and intellectually.
They’re your most powerful resource. They’re not just human capital. They’re complex individuals. Give them the time, respect, and fortification to grow and be the best they can be.
Then everybody wins.
In Summary
Making mistakes is an essential part of learning anything.
But not all mistakes were created equal.
Some are avoidable, and end up making your life more complicated.
Avoid these five new leader mistakes, and save yourself time and energy:
- Trying too hard to get approval
- Making too many changes too quickly
- Trying to be a ‘cool boss’
- Being too rigid
- Focusing only on the work and not the employees