Becoming a manager for the first time is a big step in your career, but it comes with challenges.
Mistakes are going to happen.
You are more than likely going to make many mistakes when you first make that step up. You are tasked with much more responsibility than normal and going from a team member to leading the team is difficult.
However, understanding some of the critical mistakes of new managers can allow you to be better prepared to catch yourself when you start going down those paths.
Hopefully, even if you only skim the rest of this posts, you will be better prepared to identify the mistakes of new managers and make your course corrections quickly.
So, here are 13 mistakes of new managers you should avoid as a new manager.
1. Trying to Be Everyone’s Friend
Probably of on the most common mistakes of new managers is trying to be everyone’s friend. As we discussed in Stepping into Frontline Leadership with Confidence, the feeling of isolation can be very real.
It’s natural to want to be liked, especially when stepping into a leadership role.
You may have been a peer with your team before, which can add to the difficulty of this changing relationship dynamics with your team.
However, you risk losing authority and credibility if you prioritize being friends over leading. Your team needs a leader who provides guidance, sets expectations, and holds people accountable not just someone who wants to be liked.
That doesn’t mean you should be cold, unapproachable, or distant. That goes against every principle of visible leadership.
Strong leaders build trust and respect through fairness, consistency, and support. Instead of prioritizing friendships, focus on creating a culture of trust and professionalism. Positive relationships will develop naturally when you build trust through visible leadership with your team.
2. Avoiding Difficult Conversations
Nobody enjoys confronting poor performance, discussing conflicts, or delivering constructive feedback.
Common mistakes of new managers, myself included, is avoiding these conversations, hoping issues will resolve themselves.
Unfortunately, problems rarely disappear on their own; instead, they grow. Failure to address concerns early can lead to resentment, disengagement, or larger workplace disruptions. When you do begin to address the issues, after letting them grow, they become much more difficult to resolve.
Approach difficult conversations with clarity, empathy, and professionalism. Instead of viewing them as personal confrontations, see them as opportunities for growth. Be direct, respectful, and clear about expectations.
I was once told, “Clear is Kind”.
Ensuring you are clear on your expectations allows your team members to have the greatest chances to meet them. Your team will appreciate your honesty and clarity, and handling these conversations will become easier.
3. Micromanaging Instead of Leading
As a new manager, you might feel pressure to prove yourself by staying deeply involved in every detail.
After all, you are responsible for your team’s work.
While oversight is important, micromanaging is one of the worse mistakes of new managers and will make your team feel like you don’t trust them and do damage to your team’s morale. When employees feel they have no ownership in their work, they disengage and stop taking initiative.
Instead of controlling every aspect of your team’s work, focus on setting clear expectations and providing support.
Trust your team!
Leadership is about empowering your team to be better, not doing everything yourself. When you give people the freedom to show their talents, you’ll see better results and a more motivated team.
I have been very focused on not micromanaging my team, since I have started this leadership journey.
The main driver of this comes from a past leader, which I had the “honor” to work for, that was the very definition of a micromanager. This leader made it so that we dreaded even the simplest of task, because we were going to be instructed exactly how to do things. This was even more frustrating, when they were leading us down the wrong path, but would not take our suggestions.
4. Not Setting Clear Expectations
Many workplace frustrations have come from unclear expectations.
If employees don’t know what success looks like, they may struggle to meet your standards, or worse, waste time on tasks that aren’t a priority. A new manager’s mistake is often assuming their team “just knows” what’s expected, but clarity is key to performance.
From day one, set clear goals, roles, and responsibilities.
Define what good performance looks like and communicate deadlines, priorities, and crucial objectives. When your team understands what’s expected, they can focus their efforts more effectively.
For my team, one area I found I was unclear about expectations, was in our daily job schedules. This boiled down to me relying on verbal communications to set job priorities. This led to frustrations at the end of the day when high priority work was not worked on first and often went uncompleted that day.
The simple fix was for me to organize the jobs on the schedule front top to bottom in matter of priority. This allowed for me to set clear expectations, as to which jobs received priority that day. Leading to a reduction in frustration levels from unclear expectations.
5. Failing to Give Regular Feedback
For many new managers, we hesitate to provide feedback, especially constructive criticism, because they don’t want to discourage or upset their employees.
However, when we don’t provide feedback, employees are left guessing about their performance. Without this guidance, bad habits can form, and small mistakes can snowball into bigger issues.
Feedback should be both positive and constructive. Regularly recognize good work to keep morale high and address areas for improvement before they become major problems. Routine feedback shows you care about their development.
I’ll be honest.
While giving constructive feedback is difficult, giving routine positive feedback is harder. That is because, those positive moments are the ones that we tend to say great work and move on.
To make it the more meaningful, though, we need to offer better feedback on what we thought was positive about the situation.
The key is to be specific and timely, focusing on facts and behaviors, not feelings.
6. Thinking You Need to Have All the Answers
The next one on the list of mistakes of new managers, plays a lot into adding stress on us as new managers.
We as new managers often feel pressure to know everything and make every decision on our own. This mindset can lead to unnecessary stress and a reluctance to seek help.
The truth is leadership isn’t about having all the answers it’s about knowing how to find them.
Instead of trying to be an all-knowing expert, focus on being a great problem-solver.
Ask questions, seek input from your team, and work together on solutions. Admitting when you don’t know something isn’t a weakness, it’s a sign of confidence and self-awareness. Your team will respect your willingness to learn and grow alongside them.
7. Ignoring Your Own Development
Another one of the mistakes of new managers is focusing so much on leading their team that they neglect their own growth.
Leadership is a skill that requires continuous learning, yet some managers assume they no longer need to invest in their development once they get the title.
To our best, we must keep evolving.
Seeking mentorship, read leadership books, attend training sessions, and reflect on your experiences. The best managers are always learning, adapting, and improving. Prioritizing your growth not only benefits you but also sets an example for your team.
If you’re here reading this post, you are obviously already on the path to improving your skills. Keep it up!
8. Not Managing Up
Your relationship with your boss is just as important as your relationship with your team.
Keep your boss informed about your team’s progress, challenges, and successes. Understand their priorities and align your team’s work accordingly. Continually seeking their guidance and support can also help you navigate challenges more effectively. Managing up isn’t about being a “yes man/woman”, it’s about building a productive and cohesive team.
This is one of the mistakes of new managers that I briefly caught myself in. Once I realized this, I began constantly having touch base meeting with my manager to ensure we aligned on the directions I was moving on certain things. I also started having skip level meetings to ensure that I was aligning with our site managers goals and not just my bosses.
9. Neglecting Team Morale and Burnout
Another one of the mistakes of new mangers is neglecting their team’s morale and missing the warning signs of burnout.
Driving results is important, but pushing your team too hard can lead to burnout and disengagement. When our employees feel overworked and undervalued, productivity and morale suffer. Many new managers focus so much on meeting deadlines that they overlook the well-being of their team.
Be mindful of workloads and encourage a healthy work-life balance. A motivated and well-rested team will always outperform a burnt-out one.
10. Avoiding Decision-Making
While the sixth point on this list of mistakes of new managers, highlighted the need to not know everything and deciding everything on your own. Some new managers make the inverse mistakes and hesitate to make decisions out of fear of making the wrong choice.
While gathering input is valuable, indecisiveness can frustrate your team and slow down progress. Leadership requires making tough calls, even when all the information isn’t available.
Learn to trust your judgment.
Weigh the options, gather relevant insights, and make informed decisions. Most importantly, if you make a mistake, take responsibility, learn from it and adjust. Over time, decision-making will become easier and more natural.
11. Playing Favorites
Favoritism, whether intentional or not, creates resentment and damages team trust. If employees feel certain individuals are given special treatment, it can lead to disengagement and conflict.
Playing favorites is one of the common mistakes of new managers that can lead to HR to legal troubles if employees perceive the bias in promotions, discipline, or opportunities.
Treat all employees fairly and consistently. Recognize contributions based on merit, enforce rules uniformly, and ensure opportunities are accessible to everyone. A fair leader earns the trust and respect of their entire team.
It’s a lot like having a favorite child, you the one that always does what you ask of them and are always willing to help out. You can have one, but you have to treat them all equally.
12. Failing to Delegate
New managers sometimes believe they need to do everything themselves to ensure quality. This approach only accomplishes your reaching burnout faster. Delegation is a key leadership skill that empowers your team and allows you to focus on higher-level responsibilities.
While as frontline leaders, our titles are often supervisors, team managers, or project managers, in order to effectively manage our employees we really need to lead them.
Leading your team means, trusting your team and distributing work based on their strengths. Delegating effectively not only lightens your workload but also helps develop your employees’ skills and confidence.
13. Ignoring Workplace Culture
While this one is last in this list of mistakes of new managers, it certainly isn’t any less important than the others.
Culture isn’t just about company values everyday interactions, attitudes, and behaviors shape it.
If you tolerate negativity, gossip, or poor communication, it will spread. This will kill your team’s ability to work effectively together, or the negativity can build an environment where your team no longer makes improvement suggestions.
Be intentional about building a positive culture in your team. Your leadership sets the tone for how your team operates. A strong, positive culture leads to higher engagement, better teamwork, and stronger results.
Wrapping Up
Every new manager makes mistakes, it’s part of the learning process.
Understanding the 13 mistakes of new managers is vital for your success. The key is to recognize them early, adjust, and continue your growth as a leader. By avoiding these common pitfalls, you’ll set yourself and your team up for success.
What’s a mistake you learned from in your first leadership role?
