29 Apr Navigating the Leadership Transition 

You’ve done well in your role. You deliver. You solve problems. You get results. And then one day, your manager says, “We think you’re ready to lead a team.” It’s a moment of pride, and panic. Suddenly, you’re no longer being measured by your own output, but by how well others perform under your guidance. No formal training, no roadmap, just a new title and the unspoken expectation to “figure it out.” This is a scenario that plays out in organisations everywhere. Talented individuals get promoted into leadership because of their strong technical skills, but once they step into the role, the rules change completely.

In The Leadership Pipeline, Charan, Drotter, and Noel (2021) describe this transition from managing self to managing others as one of the most critical and most under-supported passages in leadership development. It’s the foundation of the entire pipeline of which, if it’s shaky, everything above it is at risk.

A New Role, Same Toolkit?

In their foundational work The Leadership Pipeline, Charan, Drotter, and Noel describe six critical transitions leaders must navigate in their careers. The very first passage, from managing self to managing others is both the most overlooked and the most vital. It’s where the leadership journey truly begins. Yet, this is the stage where support is often thinnest.

The shift is not just about adding new tasks, it’s about adopting a whole new mindset. Before, your value was in what you could produce. Now, your success depends on how well you enable others to perform. It’s no longer about “doing the work” but creating the conditions for others to thrive.

This isn’t intuitive for most people, new leaders often bring their old toolkit into their new role. Some may stay in the weeds, some micromanage, or double down on technical delivery. They’re unsure how to delegate without losing control, avoid difficult conversations because they’ve never had to give feedback beyond peer-to-peer chats. And most of all, they struggle with the identity shift from peer to authority figure.

According to The Leadership Pipeline, leaders at this stage need to let go of:

• Doing all the work themselves
• Defining success as personal output
• Avoiding tough conversations
• Shying away from planning and prioritisation

And they need to pick up:

• Planning work for others
• Coaching and developing team members
• Managing and enabling performance
• Communicating purpose and expectations clearly

In most instances there is an expectation for new managers to pick up on those and make the transition and therefore no support is given to equip them with these skills in time. This results in burnout, frustrated teams, and reactive leadership. It becomes a cycle, one where high performers are promoted, but without the right scaffolding, they falter, and the organisation loses both a strong contributor and a potential future leader.

Often leadership development efforts are focused at the top of the organisation, but if we want strong senior leaders later, we have to invest in the pipeline now. That means catching people at Passage One and building capability where it matters most, at the start. That’s exactly what LeaderShift is designed to do. It supports new leaders in understanding this shift, acknowledging that managing others requires new attitudes, new skills, and new ways of thinking. We don’t just train on tools, we help people see themselves as leaders, not just do leadership activities. We create space for reflection, practical experimentation, and peer learning, all grounded in the real experiences of leading in their specific organisations.

I am curious about how your organisation is supporting new leaders and gradually building a strong, healthy leadership pipeline from the first passage and all the way up. Contact us to hear more about our work in strategy, leadership and teams.

We hope to have you in our May café where we will look at the various forces and the people that design your organisation. Register here: