Many companies are used to promoting their top-performing or most technically skilled employees directly to managers, only to find that this often marks the beginning of a team disaster.
These new managers often take on all the work themselves, afraid to delegate authority, or rush to make major changes as soon as they take office.
In fact, this is not due to a lack of ability, but because “doing” and “managing” are two completely different disciplines.
Why Do Excellent Employees Often Become Terrible Managers?
When a person performs exceptionally at the grassroots level, their success comes mainly from their personal professional ability and execution. But when they are promoted to a manager, the core of their role shifts from “doing things well oneself” to “letting the team do things well”.
A fatal mistake many new managers make is “taking on too much work.”
They feel that rather than spending time teaching others, it’s faster to do it themselves
Or they worry that subordinates won’t do it well, which will affect team performance, so they refuse to delegate. This not only exhausts the managers themselves but also deprives team members of opportunities to grow.
We can use a simple table to look at the fundamental differences in mindset between doers and managers:
| Comparison Item | Individual Contributor | Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Core Goal | Complete individual tasks | Lead the team to achieve organizational goals |
| Time Allocation | Focus on the execution details of personal work | Spend time on communication, coordination, and mentoring others |
| Source of Achievement | Personal professional performance and output | Growth of team members and overall performance |
| Problem Solving | Use professional skills to solve problems directly | Provide resources and guide the team to find solutions |
Without realizing this shift in mindset, even the most outstanding employees can experience severe setbacks in management positions.
The First Two Months of a New Manager: Why is “Maintaining the Status Quo” the Top Priority?
Many people think that a new manager must implement drastic reforms immediately to prove their value.
But in reality, in the first two months of a new manager taking office, the most important thing is actually “maintaining the status quo.”
When the team doesn’t trust you enough and you haven’t fully grasped the team’s dynamics, rushing to make changes will only trigger backlash and anxiety.
Your primary task is to let the team “get used to your presence” and establish the most basic “psychological safety” within the team.
At this stage, you can start arranging one-on-one meetings, but remember:
The focus of the meeting is “listening,” not “giving orders.”
The True Essence of One-on-One Meetings: How to Align Subordinates’ Personal Goals Through “Listening”?
One-on-one meetings are not for tracking project progress, nor are they a platform for one-way lectures by the manager. It is a valuable opportunity for you to truly understand your subordinates.
In meetings, managers should listen more and talk less, trying to uncover the subordinates’ “personal career goals.”
- Who do they want to become in the future?
- What skills do they want to learn the most?
A more advanced technique is to find the connection between these personal goals and company projects.
When employees discover that completing company tasks can also help them achieve their personal goals, it will greatly stimulate their intrinsic motivation.
This power of “goal alignment” is far deeper and more lasting than simple performance bonuses.
Managing Up is Not Flattery: How to Deal with Four Styles of Bosses?
In addition to managing down, new managers also need to learn to “manage up.”
When you feel your boss is difficult to communicate with, they might not be targeting you; it’s just that their information-processing style is different from yours.
Understanding your boss’s management style is not about flattery, but about communicating in the way they are most comfortable and receptive to, thereby significantly reducing communication costs.
The following are common boss styles and their coping strategies:
| Boss Style | Characteristic Description | Coping Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Hardliner | Values results and efficiency, makes decisions quickly, dislikes red tape | Get straight to the point, provide options for them to decide, avoid long setups |
| Information Integrator | Emphasizes data and logic, needs sufficient information to make decisions | Prepare detailed data and analysis reports, persuade them with objective facts |
| Inspirer | Enthusiastic and full of ideas, values vision, but may lack execution details | Affirm their vision, take initiative to help translate ideas into specific execution plans |
| Patriarchal | Values interpersonal relationships and team harmony, emphasizes organizational culture | Emphasize the positive impact of your proposal on team morale and organizational development |
Figure out your boss’s style and cater to their preferences, so your proposals will be more easily accepted and you can secure more resources for the team.
Team Prestige Relies on Information Transparency: Why You Shouldn’t Use Information as Power Leverage?
Establishing prestige in a team relies on trust, and trust comes from “information transparency.”
Some managers have a myth that holding key company information in their own hands can consolidate their power and position, which is absolutely wrong. Once changes occur in the company, managers should synchronize information and align everyone’s understanding immediately.
If you treat information as leverage, the team will be filled with suspicion, rumors will run rife, and the team’s cohesion will be severely damaged.
Furthermore, even if you dislike certain policies of the company, never criticize the company in front of subordinates.
As a manager, your role is a bridge, not an amplifier for venting emotions. Complaining about the company in front of the team does not help solve the problem and only destroys team morale.
The Hardest Lesson of Firing Employees: How to Decently Handle Resignation and Maintain Team Trust?
The heaviest and most unavoidable duty of being a manager is firing employees.
A mature manager will never shirk this responsibility. Before making a firing decision, you must first give clear standards and provide a specific performance improvement plan (PIP) and assistance. If the employee really fails to meet the standards, short pain is better than long pain.
The best timing for firing is usually “Friday before off-work,” which gives the person time to calm their emotions over the weekend and reduces the impact on the office atmosphere at the moment. More importantly, the manager must actively help handle details such as severance pay to let the other party leave decently.
This is not only to maintain the company’s reputation but also to show the remaining team members that your decision is based on objective performance rather than personal grudges.
The Core of People-Oriented Management: Treating Power as a Tool to Achieve Others
Abraham Lincoln once said: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
The core of management is never cold numbers or schemes, but “people.” When you are promoted to a manager and hold power, the real challenge has just begun:
How do you use this power to achieve others
See the value in everyone, understand subordinates’ real needs as “people,” and help team members find the drive to grow. When you can do this, you are no longer just a task-doing employee, but an outstanding leader who can build a mutually trusting and highly efficient team.