After exceeding expectations and honing your technical and communication skills, you got the promotion. Now comes the part nobody trained you for. As a new manager, you’re trying to make a good first impression, build trust with your direct reports, set expectations, and establish a thriving team dynamic — all while navigating the evolving management landscape.
The rise of AI tools is reshaping the experience of first-time leaders, giving managers access to direct feedback on their performance. At the same time, AI has been blamed for recent organizational flattening, leading to more direct reports per manager at some companies. And with larger spans of control linked to lower manager engagement, this may help explain the global nine-point drop recorded since 2022.
Today’s first-time managers are navigating the interpersonal challenges that have existed since time immemorial in a context where hybrid and distributed teams are no longer the exception, and where expectations for managers have shifted from directing to coaching — it’s a lot!
Below, we cover how new managers can navigate the transition to leadership, including the fundamentals that haven’t changed, the mistakes first-time managers often make, and how to use AI without handing over the parts of the job that have to stay human.
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1. Accept what’s different about being a manager.
One of the biggest changes that accompanies a promotion to management is becoming responsible for the performance of others.
Brie-Ann Forhecz, executive coach and founder of RedHook Coaching, put it plainly: “Your value is no longer based on what you can do. It’s based upon what you can do to support others. Your role now is to create conditions for people to thrive.”
While that reframing seems easy on paper, in practice, new managers rarely get the time (or support) to absorb it. For example, in a 2026 American Management Association study, 51% of respondents said they were promoted into management without receiving formal leadership training.
Another challenge is that oftentimes, the old job doesn’t go away. At smaller companies or start-up environments, especially, you’re still expected to produce very high-quality output.
“Most of the time you’re actually still an individual contributor, and you’re learning how to be a manager and create space for that,” said Nadia Eran, VP of people operations at Instrumentl, an AI-native grant operating system for nonprofits. “That’s probably the reason you were promoted in the first place — because you have a high bar for excellence — but from the manager’s perspective, it’s really tough to make time for leading and executing,” Eran said.
2. Start by taking a personal inventory.
Before you start gathering information about your team, gather some about yourself. Forhecz said she wishes someone had told her that before she became a manager. “People need to look inward. Instead of just jumping into the position, take a second to figure out what you stand for as a leader.”
As you prepare for your first day, Forhecz recommends considering:
- Your top two or three values
- Your biggest strength (and where you’re likely to overuse it)
- Where you regularly get tripped up
The exercise pays off in dividends. For one, you end up grounded in what you’re actually trying to do — understand yourself as a leader. Two, “When you start talking to people about who you are, you kind of have this little blueprint of who you are and who you’re trying to be,” Forhecz said.
3. Avoid moving too quickly.
The most common new manager mistake? Trying to make changes immediately. Our sources were aligned on this: Whether it’s jumping into a conversation too soon, offering an opinion too fast, or attempting to change processes upon arrival, new managers are better off listening before acting.
This is a natural impulse but one that needs reframing. “The story we’re telling ourselves as new managers is, I need to prove myself,” Forhecz said. “Whereas the reality is you were put in this position because someone — likely many people — trusted that you should be there.”
Another reason managers are eager to make changes is that individual contributors are rewarded for moving quickly, and simply turning off the habit on promotion day is tough. “There’s a big bias to act, versus the shift to pause and think,” Forhecz said.
4. Set up one-on-ones in your first week.
Get one-on-one meetings on the calendar in your first days, and keep them informal. Through your meetings with direct reports, you’ll gather the information and build the trust needed to enact changes later.
Book an hour for the first call, and share what you’d like to cover in advance. New managers can frame the conversation by saying something like, “I promise all our one-on-ones won’t be so invasive, but for our first call, I’m going to be asking you a lot of questions.”
Ask your direct reports:
- How did you get into this?
- What do you like the most and the least?
- What did your best manager do that made them so great?
- How do you like to receive critical feedback?
Eran recommended doing your best to make the first meetings about the relationship rather than the work itself, and consider getting creative.
“I’ve seen great managers ask, ‘What would make you want to stay five years?’ and ‘What would make you want to rage quit?’” she said. The benefit here is that you get the information when you can still help shape the work environment and experience, rather than try to course correct after problems have already arisen.
Bring this relationship setting and curiosity around work preferences to your meetings with your manager, too. Ask them about their communication style, which rules are unwritten, and how they prefer to hear tough news. Managing up draws on the same communication skills as managing down.
5. Take notes and track conversations.
“It’s really hard to keep track of all the different wins and opportunities of your direct reports, and that is your job,” Eran said.
Good note-taking is essential for first-time managers. Jot down observations and action items during one-on-one meetings, then take a minute or two afterward to summarize them. AI note-taking software can help immensely, but be sure to review transcriptions for accuracy.
Beyond tracking day-to-day deliverables, comprehensive records help you spot patterns and take action to support your direct reports. For example, you might notice that someone consistently struggles with prioritization and recommend project management training to them. As Eran said, “You are ultimately responsible for the outcomes of your team — and not just the projects, but the people behind those projects.”
6. Level-set the relationship with people who were once your peers.
If you were promoted internally, you’ll want to acknowledge head-on that your working relationship with former peers is changing.
“It’s the elephant in the room, so be the one to address it,” said Forhecz, who recommended injecting a bit of levity into the conversation. “Try something like ‘I don’t know if we can still have martinis every Thursday, but my intention is to keep the great relationship we already have,’” she said.
[Emphasize] the positive ways in which your relationship has changed...'Now I’m your advocate. Now I’m your partner, and I want to understand you better.’
While it may initially feel awkward, remind yourself that this is actually a huge advantage — you already know these people quite well! As former colleagues, you’ve experienced firsthand their working style and likely know their strengths and areas for development.
Even so, refrain from making assumptions. It’s true that while you have a sense for how they work, this relationship — manager-direct report — will be different. Eran recommended highlighting this by emphasizing the positive ways in which your relationship has changed: “You can say, ‘Hey, now I’m managing you.[…] Now I’m your advocate. Now I’m your partner, and I want to understand you better.’”
One thing to watch for is asserting authority early on as a lever for respect. Trust that your former colleagues already regard you highly, and that as an effective manager, you’ll earn more of their trust and respect over time.
Eran recommended flipping the script. Rather than thinking about how to elicit respect from others, consider what you can do to help them be most successful. This change alone can help people see you as more of a leader. It is, after all, leadership behavior.
7. Know where to use AI (and not).
AI is a powerful tool for managers. Here’s where it can help.
7. Accept that you won’t have all the answers.
Being a manager doesn’t mean you have to know everything all at once, or ever.
Eran noted that a great manager is an advocate rather than someone with an immediate solution. She gave this example: “When a report says they want to move toward product work, your job isn’t to say yes or no. It’s to find out whether or not a path exists. Talk to the other dev leads, look at the roadmap. And if it does, build that opportunity!”
To support your journey as a new manager, seek out a mentor. It’s inevitable that you’re going to make mistakes, and when you do, you want to have a sounding board to discuss them with. “Look for someone who will not just be your ‘yes’ person, but who is invested in your growth and will, not necessarily tell you what to do, but be there to support you in your reflection and journey,” said Forhecz.
8. Give your first weeks structure.
Your first few weeks as a manager should be about listening and observing. But listening can be hard to do well without somewhere to put what you hear.
Lattice 1:1s gives new managers a recurring cadence and a shared agenda from week one, so the themes that surface in early conversations get captured rather than half-remembered. Lattice AI pulls context from across your tools so you walk into each conversation prepared, and helps you reflect on how it went afterward.
If your company already uses Lattice, you can set this up before your next one-on-one. If it doesn’t, schedule a demo to learn how Lattice helps first-time managers thrive.
Key Takeaways
- As a manager, your value now comes from what you help other people accomplish.
- Instead of jumping into action, listen and gather context before making recommendations or changes.
- If you were promoted internally, address the change with former peers head-on rather than letting it go unspoken.
- Use AI to gather context and coach yourself, but keep humans at the heart of hiring, firing, and promotion decisions.
