They’re brilliant at their job, they’re trusted, they deliver – so they get promoted.
Makes perfect sense, right?
Well… mostly.
Because there’s a small detail that often gets overlooked when someone moves into management:
Being brilliant at the job isn’t the same as being ready to lead the people doing the job.
Suddenly, your high performer is expected to delegate, give feedback, manage former peers, navigate difficult conversations, make decisions through uncertainty and somehow get results through other people. All while figuring out what kind of leader they actually want to be.
It’s quite a leap.
So, if you’re developing your next generation of leaders, here are four signs that someone might need a little more support making the transition.
1. They’re still the person everyone goes to
And that’s not leadership. That’s becoming a very efficient bottleneck.
The leadership shift: from “I need to know the answer” to “I need to help others succeed” for someone who has built their reputation on expertise and delivery can be a surprisingly big change.
2. “It’s quicker if I just do it myself” is becoming their catchphrase
Ah, delegation.
The seemingly simple leadership skill that can make even the most capable high performer break into a cold sweat. Handing something over isn’t always easy when you know exactly how you would do it yourself.
So they delegate… but then check in constantly. Or delegate the task, but not the ownership. Or quietly take it back when it isn’t done their way. Or, in the most extreme cases, don’t delegate at all. After all, it really would be quicker if they just did it themselves. Except it isn’t – not in the long run.
Leadership means moving from personal delivery to achieving results through others. That means creating clarity, giving people ownership and allowing them to approach things differently.
It also means getting curious about what’s happening internally:
- Why am I finding this hard to let go of?
- What happens when someone does this differently from me?
- What do I do when I’m under pressure?
Those questions can reveal a lot.
The leadership shift: from “I need to get this done” to “I need to create the conditions for this to get done well.”
3. Difficult conversations have suddenly become… very difficult
Giving feedback to a colleague is one thing. Giving feedback to someone who, six months ago, was your work mate? Different story.
Emerging leaders can suddenly find themselves having conversations they’ve never had to navigate before: performance concerns, boundaries, accountability, conflict, underperformance or behaviour that needs addressing.
And there are plenty of ways to respond. . .
Avoid it.
Delay it.
Soften the message until nobody knows what the message actually was. Or go completely the other way and become much more directive than feels natural.
None of these responses necessarily mean someone is a bad manager – they may simply be finding their feet.
Leadership isn’t about having one perfect way of communicating. Different people and situations require different approaches.
Understanding your natural tendencies, including the strengths that can become overplayed, gives emerging leaders more choice in how they respond.
The leadership shift: from “how do I avoid this uncomfortable conversation?” to “how can I have this conversation in a way that is clear, constructive and right for the situation?” Is where self-awareness becomes incredibly useful.
4. They’ve done the leadership training. So why are they still doing everything themselves?
So… are they really not ready?
Maybe.
These signs shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted as “we promoted the wrong person.” They’re often signs of something much more straightforward:
The responsibility has changed faster than the person has had the opportunity to develop the behaviours needed for the role.
And that’s a development challenge, not a verdict. After all, why would we expect someone to magically know how to lead simply because we’ve changed their job title?
Leadership readiness needs to be developed – ideally, before someone finds themselves struggling.
That means looking beyond performance and potential and asking:
- Can they create ownership rather than dependency?
- Can they adapt their approach to different people?
- Are they comfortable giving feedback and having difficult conversations?
- Do they understand the impact of their natural style on others?
- Can they step back from being the expert and start enabling others?
- Are they developing the confidence and behavioural range to lead effectively?
Because the goal isn’t to turn a high performer into a completely different person. There isn’t one “right” leadership personality. The goal is to help them become more conscious of how they naturally lead, where that works well, where it might get in the way and what they can do differently when the situation demands it.
From potential to leadership capability – that’s the bit that can get missed. We’re often very good at spotting potential but less consistent at helping people turn that potential into leadership capability. And the transition is a significant one:
- Leading Self – understanding your strengths, patterns, confidence and impact.
- Leading Others – building trust, communicating effectively, giving feedback and helping others develop.
- Leading Business – creating clarity, ownership and momentum through others.
These are very different skills from being the person who can simply do the job brilliantly.
So, if you’re looking at your next generation of leaders and thinking, “they’ve got huge potential, but I’m not sure they’re quite ready yet,” that might actually be the most useful place to start.
Not with a judgement but with a conversation. Because potential is a great starting point. But potential needs somewhere to go.
Developing your next generation of leaders? Download our whitepaper below. . .
