My leadership journey has taught me that effective management is less about giving orders and more about creating the conditions for others to succeed. In this post, I’ll share how my approach evolved from directive to supportive leadership, and the key lessons learned along the way.

It’s interesting how your leadership style evolves as you gain experience. When you become a manager early in your career, you often believe that your primary responsibility is to instruct others on what to do. You’ve been promoted to a people management role because of your exceptional performance as an Individual Contributor (IC). Your ability to accomplish tasks effectively and outperform your peers has instilled in you a certain level of confidence, which may also be accompanied by arrogance. After all, they wouldn’t have promoted you if you weren’t great, and now you hold the title, so you assume that people should simply listen to you and follow your instructions.

However, you’ve made mistakes along the way. Perhaps you temporarily reverted to the role of an IC. Maybe you changed industries and needed to gain more experience before you could effectively lead. Alternatively, you may have continued in leadership, either laterally or up the ladder. Regardless of the circumstances, you’ve learned valuable lessons. These lessons encompass effective management of people, work, influencing others, setting clear expectations, and most importantly, holding people accountable.

Over time, you’ve acquired new skills and applied them to build high-performing teams, demonstrate leadership presence and courage, drive change, and lead through adversity. These achievements often come with increased responsibility and/or a broader span of control. You may find yourself overseeing ever-expanding portfolios of work and expanding teams. As your direct oversight of the tactical day-to-day diminishes, you’ll shift your focus to strategy and impediment removal to unblock your team. Meetings will become more frequent than actual work, necessitating the development of personal strategies to manage your time, stay informed about trends, assess team performance, and exhibit thought leadership.

When you stop to think about it, none of these should be surprising, and none are insurmountable. However, it’s important to identify the key lessons you need to learn and the essential skills you need to develop to navigate these new challenges effectively. Here are a few that I picked up along the way;

1. Dictators and micromanagers often fail - Managers must be comfortable allowing their team members to work their way. While it’s important to set clear guardrails, standards, and expectations, trying to force people to conform to your methods can lead to issues and increase the likelihood of failure. When managers fail, their impact extends beyond themselves, potentially causing negative consequences for their entire team.

2. Focusing only on the work, means you are missing 90% of the role - Managers who focus solely on the work are showing a lack of emotional intelligence. While it’s true that a manager’s primary responsibility is to ensure tasks are completed and business outcomes are achieve, true management transcends tasks. Management is about people, relationships, and navigating complexity. Your impact lies in communication, collaboration, and enabling your team’s success beyond just getting things done. Management is a people-first endeavor.

3. Employees’ lives away from work impacts their work-life - As a manager you want your team to feel comfortable in bringing their whole selves to work, challenges and all. Showing empathy and simply being present to listen demonstrates you care, fostering a supportive environment where your team can thrive despite external pressures.

4. Thinking leading is always from the front Real leadership is about building a high-performing team by stepping out of the spotlight and actively supporting individuals, clearing obstacles, and ensuring their success is the priority. It’s the courage to support from alongside or behind, empowering your team to shine. Your success is inextricably linked to theirs.

5. Own the outcome. Support your team through setbacks As a manager, building trust means supporting your team’s efforts and holding them accountable constructively. Accountability isn’t about blame; it’s about collective recovery and success. Stay calm, focus on solutions, and foster the resilience needed to learn and achieve together. Your job is to own the outcome, back your team, and calmly guide them back to achieving the desired results.

The journey of management is one of expanding perspective. As you gain experience, the focus shifts. You learn that the “90%” you might initially miss is the vital human element. By prioritizing empathy, understanding the lives your employees lead outside the office, and focusing on supporting their success over your own spotlight, you cultivate a team that is not only productive but also deeply connected and resilient. This is where the most profound and lasting results are found.