F L A U N T
1. Your job is no longer just about doing the work. Your focus should be on helping your team succeed.
2. Clear expectations and consistent feedback build trust fast.
3. Great managers don’t do it all. They guide, support, and get out of the way.
Getting promoted is exciting, until you realize your inbox isn’t the only thing that just doubled. If you're managing people for the first time, feeling a little unprepared is normal. You’re not just responsible for your work anymore. Now, you’re the one people look to for answers, clarity, and support.
“People don’t leave companies, they leave managers,” said Jaedon Khubani, VP of Business Development at Copper Fit, a company that offers back braces. “And the best managers are the ones who care personally and challenge directly.”
That kind of balance doesn’t happen overnight. Managing direct reports requires learning to set expectations, give useful feedback, and actually lead, not just supervise.
If that sounds like a lot, don’t worry. You don’t need a leadership seminar to start strong. Here’s what you need to know to make the shift with confidence.
Stepping into a managerial role means your job is no longer just about your work. Instead of being measured by what you get done personally, you’re now responsible for how your team performs. That includes guiding priorities, keeping people focused, and ensuring the group delivers what the business needs.
“When someone moves into management and keeps working like an individual contributor, the team ends up confused or sidelined,” explained Titania Jordan, CMO of Bark Technologies, a company known for its safer phones for kids, the Bark Phone. “If no one’s helping them grow or stay aligned, projects can start to fall apart fast.”
Start by adjusting your mindset. Let go of the urge to do everything yourself and focus on enabling others to move forward. Think about outcomes, not just effort. Make space for team check-ins, build routines around priorities, and look for moments to clarify what success looks like. Your successes come from what your team achieves together.
When you step into a management role, one of the first expectations you have to set is what “good work” looks like to you. However, those expectations often sound stiff, vague, or overly formal, making them hard to act on. People aren’t mind readers, and tone matters more than you think.
“Managers who only speak in checklists or metrics usually miss the bigger opportunity: helping people understand why their work matters,” said Shaunak Amin, CEO and Co-Founder of Stadium, a company that offers an employee recognition platform. “When expectations feel human, not mechanical, people feel more motivated to meet them.”
In your first 1:1s, get specific about what success looks like. Walk through examples of strong work, share how you plan to check in and keep each other aligned. Instead of rattling off a list of rules, frame expectations around shared goals.The more you treat expectations like a two-way agreement, the more likely they are to stick.
If you’re leading a team, giving feedback regularly is part of the job. It helps people grow, builds trust, and keeps things from going sideways. The catch? Most people don’t get nearly enough of it or only hear from their manager when something goes wrong.
"Unfortunately, if people don’t receive feedback, they are likely to become discouraged, disengaged, and even leave the company. And a lack of feedback damages the esteem of people, but also their impact on their team and the organization," said Dr. Tracy Brower from Hope College.
Make feedback a normal part of how you work together. Instead of waiting for big milestones, share small, specific comments in real time. When something goes well, say what worked and why it mattered. When something needs work, focus on actions, not personalities. And when feedback comes your way, listen without jumping to defend. The goal is steady growth, not perfection.
It’s tempting to think that being a “good manager” means always having the answers, fixing problems fast, and keeping a tight grip on every detail. But that approach usually does more harm than good.
“When managers hover or jump in too quickly, it signals a lack of trust, and it can quietly crush creativity, confidence, and morale,” said Jack Savage, Chief Executive Officer of Everyday Dose, a company that specializes in mushroom coffee. “People don’t do their best work when they feel watched, second-guessed, or out of the loop.”
Here are a few common habits that might be holding your team back:
Jumping in to fix things might feel efficient in the moment, but it keeps your team from building problem-solving muscles. If you’re constantly swooping in to save the day, your team learns to wait for you instead of thinking things through themselves. Over time, they start to disengage, and you burn out from carrying things that aren’t yours anymore.
“When managers constantly step in, they’re unintentionally sending the message that their team can’t be trusted to figure it out,” said Brianna Bitton, Co-Founder of O Positiv, a company known for its URO probiotics capsules. “It might seem helpful, but it builds a cycle of dependency that’s hard to break.”
Next time something’s off, resist the urge to take over. Ask clarifying questions, discuss options, and guide them toward the solution. When you do need to step in, explain why and treat it as a coaching moment.
Changing someone’s work without context can leave them confused and deflated. If edits appear in their inbox without explanation, they’re left guessing what went wrong or thinking their effort didn’t matter. Clear feedback builds skills. Silent changes just build frustration.
“Rewriting without a conversation misses the real opportunity to help someone understand how to improve,” said Daley Meistrell, Head of Ecommerce at Dose, a company that offers cholesterol supplements called Dose for Cholesterol®.
Instead of tweaking content quietly, share your thought process. Use comments or a quick call to explain what you changed and why. Highlight what worked, too, so they know what to keep doing. The more your edits feel like guidance, the faster your team will level up.
Wanting to stay informed is normal. Needing to approve every tiny thing isn’t. If your team can’t progress without your green light, they’ll start feeling stuck and second-guess themselves. It slows everything down and makes small tasks feel heavy.
“Micromanagement often looks like involvement, but it ends up blocking momentum,” said Emily Greenfield, Director of Ecommerce at Mac Duggal, a company that offers mother of the groom dresses. “When people are afraid to move without a check-in, they stop taking initiative and start waiting for permission.”
Try replacing constant check-ins with clear checkpoints. Set expectations early about when and how you want updates. Give them space to run with the middle part, and focus your time on feedback and direction at the key milestones.
When you're new to leading a team, staying in people-pleaser mode is tempting. You want everyone to feel comfortable, avoid tension, and keep things “positive.” But being overly agreeable often leads to unclear priorities and missed growth opportunities.
“Trying to be liked usually backfires because people start second-guessing where you stand,” said Justin Soleimani, Co-Founder of Tumble, a company known for its washable rugs. “Trust comes from consistency, which requires honesty, even when it’s a little uncomfortable.”
You don’t have to become a bossy version of yourself. You just have to be real. If something’s off, say so. Be upfront when you change direction, and don’t sugarcoat tough conversations. Trust builds when people know they’ll get the truth from you, not just what sounds nice in the moment.
When your calendar is slammed, and your Slack is buzzing, it feels like you’re doing something right. But nonstop motion doesn’t always mean meaningful progress. If you’re stuck in the weeds, your team probably is too. And if your 1:1s are just status updates, you're missing chances to solve bigger problems.
“The best managers aren’t focused on being the busiest people in the room. They create space for their team to think clearly and focus on what matters,” said Erin Banta, Co-Founder and CEO of Pepper Home, a company that specializes in custom curtains. “Strong leadership means clearing the path so others can confidently move forward.”
Step back from the noise and lead by example. Use check-ins to identify blockers and plan next steps. Instead of reacting to every ping, try shared planning docs. Protect your time so you can help your team use theirs more effectively.
You might like outlines, while someone else might think out loud. You might thrive with tight deadlines, while others shut down. The mistake new managers make is assuming what works for them should work for everyone. But leading well means noticing the differences and adjusting, not pushing for sameness.
“Managers who expect their team to mirror their style miss out on the actual strengths of the people they hired,” said Sanford Mann, CEO of American Hartford Gold, a company that offers a gold IRA. “It’s not about finding copies of yourself. It’s about making space for different approaches to reach the goal.”
During 1:1s, ask what helps them stay organized. Do they want checklists or open-ended problem solving? Clear deadlines or room to explore? Great teams don’t all think the same, but they do move in the same direction.
Being a great manager isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating the kind of environment where your team can think clearly, work confidently, and grow steadily. That takes a mix of clarity, compassion, and consistency, and yes, a little trial and error.
“The best leaders lead with both urgency and patience. They make decisive moves, but only after gathering the right information. They bring fresh vision but also honor the work that came before them. And they recognize that performance, trust, and culture are intertwined with each one shaping the others. Lead with a vision and the same thoughtfulness you hope to inspire in them,” said Marlo Lyons, award-winning author and career strategist.
Whether you're figuring out how to run your first 1:1 or navigating your fifteenth Slack fire drill, remember this: You don’t need to be perfect to be powerful. Keep learning, keep listening, and trust that your team’s success will follow.
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