Council Post: New To Leadership? 15 Effective Ways To Transition From Team Member To Manager (2023)

Moving from individual contributor to team leader creates a positive career trajectory toward professional growth. While you may be excited and ready to take on the extra responsibilities, it’s important to anticipate potential power struggles or hurt feelings over your promotion.

The first and most important obstacle to tackle may be reintegrating your former peers into a strong team with you at the helm. To help with the transition, 15 Forbes Coaches Council members provided their best advice for creating healthy team dynamics that will allow you to excel in your new managerial role.

1. Demonstrate Your Leadership Qualities

Leadership is about creating inspiration, influence and impact. At the heart of it lies compassion and authenticity. Let your co-workers see these qualities in their experiences with you. Show that you are invested in their growth and willing to listen and understand their motivations and challenges. Be clear in your communication, draw boundaries and bring the team together with a shared vision. - Ruchi Shah-Mehta, Big Impact Coaching

2. Ask Questions And Listen To Your Team

You are not their peer anymore; now is the time to understand what motivates your team, determine their strengths and get to know how to lead each person. One size does not fit all, and getting to know what motivates team members will help you build a strong relationship. Also, be clear on your expectations. They are looking to you to lead them. - Kathy Lockwood, Blue Water Leadership Coaching

3. Have Open Dialogue And Set Boundaries

Know that you will need to shift the approach in how you show up for your team. They will be evaluating you through a different lens, using a different measurement. A shift does not feel the same as an abrupt change, yet it is also not vague or confusing. Having open dialogue and setting boundaries are good ways to begin to establish expectations. Be patient. Building a new team dynamic and culture takes time. - Lindsay Miller, Reverie Organizational Development Specialists

4. Request Honest Feedback

Leading your former peers is an excellent opportunity to maintain a close personal relationship with them and gain their support by asking for their honest feedback and participation. This shows that you value them and their opinions and will support them going forward. As a result, it will help you build your credibility as a new boss and earn the team’s approval. - Izabela Lundberg, Legacy Leaders Institute

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5. Make Your Team Feel Heard And Validated

Good leadership is inclusive, regardless of how you come to be a leader. Start with a session to ask for their input on the best way to move forward. Be clear that you will have to make the final decision after you weigh their valuable advice. When people feel heard and validated, they’re more likely to buy in, even if it’s not what they chose. Of course, some may remain jealous, so focus on allies. - Nadine Hack, beCause Global Consulting

6. Shift Your Mindset To Become An Accountability Partner

Transitioning from employee to manager necessitates a paradigm shift. The challenge is to shift your mindset from that of a comrade and confidant to that of a coach and accountability partner. This begins with communicating your vision to your former teammates, then leading by example while treating your team the way you wanted to be treated. Lastly, be the change you sought when you were in their shoes. - D Ivan Young, Dr. D Ivan Young

7. Treat Your Team Members As Individual Humans

Change is what happens to us. Transition is what we do about it. New team leaders can focus on four areas of leadership to accelerate the building of trust with their team. First and foremost, be a good human and treat team members as individuals. Second, know your stuff. Third, do what you say you are going to do. Finally, routinely communicate your intent, priorities and expectations. - Dennis Volpe, LRI

8. Banish Fear And Proactively Initiate Conversations

As you can imagine, if you are fearful, your peers will be too. You have built prior relationships, so the top question is, “What does this promotion mean to those relationships?” You want to galvanize support from familiar teammates as soon as possible, so take the initiative and have open conversations. Sometimes, being promoted internally is even more challenging than being hired into a leadership position as an outsider. - Chuen Chuen Yeo, ACESENCE

9. Find The Middle Ground

I’ve made this transition twice in my career, and I’ll be honest, it isn’t easy. You have to strike the delicate balance between being a leader without being a dictator and being a human without being everyone’s best friend. There’s a middle ground in both of those spaces that’s hard to find, so get a mentor or a coach to help make the transition smoother for you. - Nicole Forward, Center for Creative Leadership

10. Acknowledge The Awkwardness

My advice is to have the new manager hold a one-on-one conversation with each new direct report that does the following: acknowledges the awkwardness, asks for their trust and support and opens the door for them to speak up if and when things feel “off” in the future. It seems obvious and uniquely simple to ask for support, yet this is often forgotten in the transition. - Natasha Ganem, Lion Leadership

11. Resist The Urge To Tell Your Former Peers What To Do

Have an open conversation with them about your vision and listen to their suggestions. Remind them that you are all in this together, working toward a common goal, and attaining that goal is a win for everyone. You got the role for a reason; trust your leadership skills, but seek a coach or a mentor if you feel imposter syndrome creeping in! - Kevin Kan, Break Out Consulting Asia

12. Prepare Mentally For A Six-Month Transition

Play the long game. According to Bruce Tuckman, any new team goes through four stages of development: forming, storming, norming and performing. So, mentally prepare yourself for a six-month transition. Start by aligning people around a clear vision and goals. Be mindful that conflict will arise and nip it in the bud quickly. Then stay focused and trust that, over time, you’ll establish a new norm. - Gabriella Goddard, Brainsparker Innovation Academy

13. Think About How You Want To Lead

My best tip for this very uncomfortable transition is to dedicate some time to thinking about how you want to lead. The promotion itself doesn’t make you a leader; successfully leading makes you a leader. Talk to as many trusted advisors as you can to get their advice. There’s bound to be some kickback, but if you’ve given your leadership plan serious thought, you will have a firm foundation to start. - Beth Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Coaching and Consulting

14. Do Something Different

This was the advice I received when I was first promoted from team member to manager. Leadership is about influencing others to accomplish desired goals. Stepping into a leadership role requires you to be yourself, and yet have the courage to act differently: with humility, knowing that you may not always be right, with a service-first philosophy and with the confidence to trust your intuition. - Paul Ward, The Global Centre for Conscious Leadership

15. Show That You Value Team Members And Their Strengths

Begin with an honest dialogue. Explain the roles clearly, reiterate that you value them for the strengths they bring to the table—perhaps those that are complementary to yours—and explain how you look to embrace a more inclusive and collective leadership style for the benefit of the team. It is also important to set expectations around the nonnegotiables that the new working relationship entails. - DN Prasad, GovTech, Singapore