Being a star player doesn’t automatically make you a great coach—and the same is true for managers, being an outstanding team member doesn’t automatically mean you can lead the team well.
In professional sports, this truth is well understood. Yet in business, we consistently promote our highest performers into management roles, expecting their individual excellence to naturally translate into leadership success.
Here’s the fundamental shift that many Senior Executives and First-time Leaders miss: Management requires you to transform from a ‘task doer’ to a ‘people enabler.’
The very traits that made you exceptional at your job—your drive for personal achievement, your efficiency, your ability to put your head down and power through tasks—might actually hinder your effectiveness as a leader. These traits all made you an exceptional ‘doer’ but that’s no longer your main job, how good you are as a leader depends on how well you enable other people to do many of the tasks you used to do.
High performers expect to deliver exceptional quality, very efficiently. That’s brilliant when it’s expectations of themselves, but it can be highly problematic when they expect the same quality and speed from other people! They’ve internalised practices and perspectives that feel like ‘common sense’ to them, but are actually the product of years of dedication and natural talent. This can make it challenging to accept, understand and support team members who think, work, and are motivated differently.
The real art of management isn’t about being the best individual contributor—it’s about creating an environment where others can excel. It’s about recognising that the motivation that drove you might not inspire others. It’s about developing the patience to coach rather than just demonstrate or ‘take over’.
Success as a manager isn’t measured by your personal output anymore, you will be judged by your ability to enable increased output from the people in your team.
For those who have made the leap: Are you nodding your head and saying “So true”?!
