Lead Your First Team: A Top 10 Guide for New Managers

How to Lead Your First Team: A Top 10 Guide for New Managers
We know from people manager assessment center data that new leaders struggle with the question of how to lead your first team. Whether promoted from within or hired externally, a successful transition to manager requires a fundamental transformation in ownership mindset, responsibility, and impact. We know from project postmortem results that the ability to manage, coach, and lead a team for the first time requires more than just technical expertise — it calls for bringing out the best in others through core management competencies like:

• Change management
• Communication
• Customer focus
• Decision making
• Delegation
• Interpersonal skills
• Leading others
• Persuasion and influence
• Planning and organizing
• Problem Solving
• Strategic thinking

A Top 10 Guide for New Managers to Lead Their First Team
Grounded in action learning leadership development and new manager training best practices, here is an experience-based guide for first-time managers who want to lead effectively and avoid the common pitfalls of early leadership.

1. Shift Your Focus from Me to We
   Your success as a new people manager is now measured by your team’s dynamics, performance, and engagement, not just your personal output as an individual contributor. While some management roles require being a player-coach, we know from organizational culture assessment data that one of the hardest shifts for new managers is letting go of being the “doer” and becoming the “enabler.”

   It’s no longer about how well YOU complete tasks, but how well you create a high performance environment that enables and supports OTHERS to complete shared goals.

   Do your new managers know how to delegate intentionally, and trust that empowering their team is the best way to deliver team-based results?

2. Get to Know Your Team as Individuals
   Effective leadership starts with strong and trusting relationships. Invest the time to understand each team member’s strengths, motivations, communication styles, and goals. Don’t assume what worked for you will work for everyone.  Schedule regular one-on-one meetings not just to manage work — but to connect, listen, and learn.

   Do your new managers know how to build trust in leadership through clarity, empathy, fairness, and consistency?

3. Set Clear Expectations and Shared Team Norms
   We know from organizational alignment research that strategic clarity accounts for 31% of the difference between high and low performing teams. One of the quickest ways to create confusion (and dysfunction) is to leave performance and behavioral expectations unspoken. Be clear about goals and accountabilities, roles and responsibilities, success metrics, interdependencies, deliverables, and decision-making processes.

   To ensure team buy-in and commitment, actively involve your team to define how you’ll work together (your team charter) including team meeting cadences, feedback norms, communication channels, and accountability structures.

   Do your new managers know how to actively involve others team to create the psychological team safety required to encourage constructive debate and minimize unnecessary team friction?

4. Communicate Transparently and Often
   We know from communication essentials training that silence and a lack of information flow breeds uncertainty that rarely gets filled in with positive news or beliefs. Especially early on, your team is looking to you for clarity and direction. Be intentional with your words and actions.

   Share context, explain the “why” behind decisions, and be candid about what you know, what you don’t know, and when you will know more. The more honest and transparent you are, the more trust you’ll build and the faster your team will align.

   Do your new managers know how to create open and two-way channels for feedback and dialogue?

5. Learn to Coach, Not Control
   We know from management development that new managers often mistakenly default to micromanaging when under pressure. Instead, adopt a coaching mindset. Ask powerful questions, guide problem-solving, and help your team grow through challenges not by giving them the answers, but by helping them find their own.

   Leadership development isn’t about having all the solutions — it’s about creating the conditions for others to perform at their peak.

   Do your new managers know how to effectively coach others?
   

6. Model and Reward the Behavior You Expect
   Strategies and culture cascade from the top. We know from high performance culture research that if you want your team to be accountable, adaptable, and respectful, you must model and reward those qualities consistently. Your team will take cues from how you handle stress, resolve conflict, manage priorities, and own mistakes.

   Leadership is less about what you say and more about what you demonstrate and reward — especially in high-stakes moments.

   Do your new managers know how to model the way for their teams?

7. Get Comfortable with Giving and Receiving Feedback
   While effective feedback is the engine of performance and growth, we know from performance management training that most new managers avoid it for fear of discomfort. Get over that. We know from employee engagement action data that employees who receive frequent feedback are twice as engaged and three times less likely to look for other jobs.

   High performing managers not only deliver feedback early, specifically, and constructively, but they also invite honest and direct feedback about their own leadership strengths and weaknesses.

   Do your new managers know how to show their team that open feedback, and continuous improvement starts with at the top.

8. Align with Your Boss and Key Stakeholders
   New managers need to not only lead, manage, and coach their team, but also, they need to manage their boss and key stakeholders across the company. First, make sure you’re aligned with your own manager on strategic priorities, scope, and what success looks like. Then, proactively build relationships with key stakeholders who care about and have influence over the success or failure of your team.

   Do your new managers know how to successfully navigate workplace politics and organizational dynamics to best advocate for their team?

9. Prioritize Professional and Career Development
   Great managers purposefully invest in and grow their people. They are intentional about developing their team’s skills and careers. They proactively identify opportunities for stretch assignments, mentoring, and learning.

   Do your new managers know how to seek out resources, training, peer communities, and feedback loops to develop the careers of their team?

10. Stay Grounded and Aligned with What Matters Most
    New leaders stay grounded in their values and desire to continuously lean and improve. They seek progress over perfection by developing a leadership style that’s both authentic and effective.

    Do your new managers know how to define and live their personal leadership brand?

The Bottom Line
For many, leading their first team is a defining moment that will stretch, challenge, and shape their career. While the transition from contributor to manager can be daunting, it’s also deeply rewarding — if you approach it with humility, clarity, and a commitment to team success. Great leaders are built through intention, self-awareness, and relentless learning.

To learn more about how to lead your first team and get more new first-time manager advice, download 3 Must-Have Ingredients of High Performing Teams for New Managers