Getting promoted should feel like good news…and of course, it is! Yet with an overnight change to your job title, your peers become your direct reports and your manager’s expectations change; this combination throws up a lot of complexities. You haven’t changed as a person, but everything around you looks and feels different. Conversations change. Jokes land differently. Decisions that were once shared now feel like they weigh heavily on your shoulders.
In at the Deep End
Most promotions happen because you’re good at your job, not because you’re trained to lead others. Many first-time people managers are expected to ‘work it out as they go along’ without formal support or development:
- According to the Chartered Management Institute (2023), 82% of managers enter leadership without formal training. Many are “accidental managers” who are expected to learn leadership skills on the job.
- The Center for Creative Leadership (2022) reports that 26% of first-time managers feel unprepared to lead from day one, and 60% had no prior leadership training.
- Gallup (2025) states that effectiveness of managers account for up to 70% of the variance in team engagement. Good leaders drive engagement.
The Cost of Failure
The problem is that the capability gap quickly turns into a tangible impact for the individual manager, their team and the organisation:
- Rising stress, burnout and sickness absence
- Decreased engagement and productivity
- Leaders avoiding conflict until it becomes a crisis
- High turnover and loss of talent
- Muddled communication leading to unclear expectations
- Poor psychological safety
- Managers feeling overwhelmed, out of their depth and unsupported
What helps?
A great starting point is acknowledging that you don’t have all the answers. How could you- you haven’t had any leadership development?! Step one is about getting into the right mindset-being willing to adapt and having the curiosity to learn.
If I had my time over when I was became an ‘accidental manager’, these are some practical actions that would have definitely made a difference:
Acknowledge the change: actively seek clarity of the expectations and accountability of your new role.
Reset relationships intentionally: one-to-one conversations help to clarify expectations and help you to understand the people in your team and how to get the best out of them.
Make health and wellbeing a priority: this goes for you and your team. It’s the foundation of engagement, absence, productivity, brand loyalty, creativity and resilience, all of which affect the bottom line.
Making the transition from being the expert to enabling the team: becoming a manager means that it’s no longer about doing everything yourself. Your role is to empower others to succeed.
Prioritise consistency over popularity: it’s impossible to please everybody (and this isn’t what you’re there for!). Being fair, transparent, and consistent earns trust faster than trying to be liked.
Be human: you’re not perfect and nor are your team. Take a human and compassionate approach adapting to individual needs within your team. One size doesn’t fit all! Be kind to yourself and your team.
Ask for feedback early: asking for input from your team can feel uncomfortable, but it helps you to learn, builds credibility and can stop small issues from escalating.
Give timely feedback: you may think you’re being ‘nice’ by not giving somebody feedback but it’s definitely not ‘kind’ to avoid those discussions.
Have the timely tough conversations: in my experience, avoiding difficult conversations only ever leads to more serious issues down the line. While it can be hard to have those tricky conversations, you can be can assured it’s much easier than what lies in store when issues and conflict are left unchecked.
Why does early leadership development matter?
Leadership behaviours and skills are developed through intentional practice, guidance, and reflection. Structured development in the early days of becoming a first-time people manager makes a measurable difference:
- Teams led by trained managers show 20-28% higher engagement and performance. (Gallup, 2025)
- Employees with ineffective managers are far more likely to leave; early development equips managers to lead more effectively and helps to retains talent. (CMI, 2023)
- Coaching, mentoring, and leadership programmes help new managers build confidence and credibility faster. (CCL, 2022)
- Gallup (2025) also highlights a global challenge with only 27% of managers feeling engaged themselves. Clearly, this filters down to impact their teams’ engagement.
What next?
Supporting first-time managers isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’, it’s a strategic priority. The cost of sitting back and waiting for your new managers and their teams to fail is very high. It doesn’t have to be this way-you can support your first-time people managers from day one.
Kay Gunn is a specialist in developing first-time people managers. To understand more about the programmes she offers, please get in contact: kay@kaygunn.com.
