3 New Manager Tips I Wish I'd Had (From a VP in Tech)
You just landed your first manager role. You feel like an imposter. You don't know where to start, and you feel completely on your own.
I was in your shoes once. My journey from a junior employee to a VP in tech was filled with mistakes. The problem is that the skills that made you a successful individual contributor are not the skills that will make you a successful manager.
It's a tough, lonely transition. To help, here are three of the biggest traps I fell into and the tips I wish someone had given me on day one.
1. The Manager Mask is a Trap
On day one, the questions hit you all at once. How do you earn your team's trust? What do you say in your first meeting?
Your first instinct is to put on the manager mask and start performing. To fake a confidence you don't have.
I learned the hard way that your team sees right through it. They know it's impossible for you to have all the answers. When you show fake confidence, it doesn't build trust; it makes you look reckless. That lie you're telling is the real root of your imposter syndrome, because you're terrified of being uncovered.
What to do instead: Drop the mask. Your confidence as a manager shouldn't come from having all the answers. It must come from having a good process to find them. Your team doesn't need you to be a genius; they need you to be a guide.
2. Don't Be the Competent Jerk
Early in my career, I was so focused on being right and driving projects forward that I steamrolled people. I was becoming the classic Competent Jerk.
I quickly learned that it doesn't matter how skilled you are. If people dislike working with you, they will find a way to work around you. Your career will hit a ceiling.
The hard truth is that your new job is about people first: people before projects, and people before your ego.
What to do instead: Reframe your role. Your job isn't to be the source of the best ideas; it's to create a safe space where the best ideas can win. When you disagree, challenge the idea, not the person. Decouple your ego from your opinion.
3. Stop Stealing Growth from Your Team
This was the hardest lesson for me. When you see a team member struggling with a task, your instinct is to jump in. I can do it faster, or It needs to be done right, you'll tell yourself.
It feels like you're being helpful. You're not.
Every time you jump in to do the work yourself, you are actively stealing a growth opportunity from your team. You are training them to be helpless. You are creating a team that can't function without you, which means you've just made yourself a micromanager and a bottleneck.
What to do instead: Your job is to be a coach, not a player. When your team gets stuck, don't give them the answer. Ask the questions that will help them find the answer. Your success is no longer measured by your output, but by your team's success.
For a deeper playbook, check the Manager Augmented book or learn more about me.