Which Type of New Leader Are You? Why Does It Matter?
Understanding what kind of new leader you are is the first step toward becoming the kind of leader you want to be.
If you have new leaders, giving them the best chance for success begins with understanding their starting point.
From that basic understanding, we can work together on what skills you/they need to develop through coaching, even if you/they haven’t received formal training in their application.
Self-awareness is the shortcut to growth.
The First Time Manager
Who they are: Often promoted from within the team, they now lead the same people they once worked alongside.
The challenge: The shift from peer to manager is jarring. They tend to keep doing the work themselves instead of truly leading. They might avoid hard conversations because they don’t want to upset anyone. They might experience the jealousy of their former teammates or push-back from peers.
The key shift: Learning to set clear expectations and establish boundaries early while building trust in their new role.
How coaching can help: Our blind spots are often what hurt us in these situations, and if a new leader has never experienced their own leaders setting clear expectations for them, they likely won’t know how to do it themselves. Coaching can help reveal those blind spots in self-awareness, to help the new leader build skills for expectation-setting, so that they are clear, rather than vague.
The Subject Matter Expert Turned Leader
Who they are: Promoted because they were the best at the technical work. This often happens when a leader leaves or when a company decides the team of practitioners needs closer leadership. This type of leader shares traits with the First-Time Manager, and could even be someone with seniority on the team, looked upon as the leader, but not in an official leadership role.
The challenge: They know how to do the job better than anyone else, and that’s the problem. They struggle to delegate and set expectations because it’s easier just to do it themselves because they know they’ll get it right the first time. They might find themselves re-doing their team’s work when they find errors. Failure to properly delegate eliminates the possibility of training new experts and leaders in the team and creates bottlenecks and frustration on all sides.
The key shift: Viewing delegation not as losing control, but as developing people. Using feedback as a tool for development, not as punishment or out of frustration. The new leader must realize that their real job now is to grow capability in others in addition to accomplishing the mission or meeting their quotas.
How coaching can help: Coaching can help the new leader with patience, and they can work with the coach to develop personal strategies to more effectively delegate responsibility and give relevant feedback. In the case of the senior team member without a title, coaching can help the new leader become more influential without the authority typically needed to do so.
The External Hire
Who they are: Brought in from outside the organization to lead a team. They are likely not a new leader in the sense they are new to leadership, but new to the organization, the team, the role, and the mission.
The challenge: They face a culture they don’t fully understand, and a team that might see them as an outsider. Trust is fragile, and every move is under a microscope.
The key shift: Collaboration and leading through change are critical skills for the external hire. Balancing listening with decisive action and building relationships fast without hesitating to set direction.
How coaching can help: One of the most common mistakes external hires make is trying to make their old habits or remnants from a previous organizational culture fit with the new team, and often within a few days of hire. Sometimes that works. Often it doesn’t. Coaching helps the external leader build self-awareness, so they can build clarity for themselves, which helps the leader create clarity for their new team.
The Young/Accelerated Leader
Who they are: Promoted quickly due to talent or ambition, sometimes younger than the people they lead. This type of leader might share traits with the External Hire, the SME-turned-leader, or the First-Time Manager.
The challenge: They often battle doubts about ability, both their own and their team’s. They can overcompensate by being overly assertive, even directive, or undercut themselves by trying to be “one of the team.” They will almost certainly face resistance from team members with more experience in the industry or company or who are older.
The key shift: Leading with quiet confidence, setting expectations clearly, and collaborating openly to earn respect rather than demand it. Reframing performance expectations so that team members see both their own responsibility in completing the mission, but how their efforts contribute to everyone’s success. Structuring feedback opportunities to create an environment of reciprocity and psychological safety, rather than one of criticism.
How coaching can help: The Young Leader might suffer from imposter syndrome or may have already received negative feedback from a senior team member. Coaching can help adjust the Young Leader’s mindset to improve self-confidence, mental clarity, and empathy toward their more experienced or older team members.
The Inherited Team Leader
Who they are: Steps into a team they didn’t build, often after a reorganization or a previous manager’s departure. They may have been part of the team or may be brought in from another department or company specifically to fix the issues. This type of leader may share traits with the External Hire and the SME-turned-leader, and the Reluctant/Transitional leader (below).
The challenge: They inherit the team’s history: The good, bad, and ugly. They may face low morale, entrenched cliques, or inconsistent performance, none of which they caused but some of which the team will look to them to fix. Other negative or destructive team behaviors might be seen as “normal” by the team, and correcting those might present a different type of undertaking.
The key shift: Resetting expectations and culture. The leader quickly clarifying what “good” looks like while acknowledging what came before. Having open discussions with the team so they can more readily collaborate with each other to fix or prevent team problems. Leading the team through the changes, so they recognize their own part in making the change successful and maintain course to sustain the change.
How coaching can help: This new leader will likely be inundated with complaints and recommended fixes from one direction or another (top-down or bottom-up) but not from both directions. Coaching will help the leader with communication, mental clarity, setting reasonable expectations with the team. When the time comes to correct those team behaviors that are destructive but seen as normal, coaching can help the new leader cut through the emotional wreckage and forge partnerships with the team to improve their ability to collaborate.
The Startup/Small Business Leader
Who they are: Leading in a high-growth, often chaotic environment. Usually wears multiple hats and manages people while still producing. This might be an entrepreneur whose business is expanding for the first time, which will require hiring new staff. This type of leader might share traits with the SME-turned-leader or the First Time Manager.
The challenge: Overwhelm. They are used to doing everything themselves and now they physically can’t because there aren’t enough hours in the day. They are not used to delegating or setting expectations because they were the only person responsible for the success of the organization. Now, with growth, they are risking burnout and neglecting the “leadership” part of their role.
The key shift: Building systems and delegating effectively so they can focus on direction, not just survival. This type of new leader will need to learn to collaborate with their team, lead through the imminent or ongoing change, and set expectations – both for the new team and for themselves.
How coaching can help: In some leaders in this category, trusting others to do the work they once performed is difficult. Coaching can help the leader to let down their guard, clearly visualize the change to the organization so that it can be communicated, and determine what this new leader needs to continue to develop their own expectations of themselves and others.
The Reluctant/Transitional Leader
Who they are: Put into leadership by necessity, not choice. Maybe the last manager left, or there was no one else available. More than likely didn’t apply to the role, but was assigned to it, with or without warning. This type of leader might share traits with the Inherited Team Leader and the SME-turned-leader.
The challenge: They hesitate to fully step into the role, seeing themselves as “filling in” rather than leading. They might be overwhelmed by the idea of having to fix the problem(s) that caused this change in the first place. This often leads to lack of vision, decreased clarity, missed accountability, and a drifting team. This is a change no one really wanted, so leading through that change will be especially difficult.
The key shift: Own the role. Understand that leadership isn’t about a title, it’s about responsibility to the team’s success. They should take comfort in the recognition that someone trusted in their ability to perform the role, at least in some capacity. There is also the possibility that the team members are ready for a change, but don’t know how to express it.
How coaching can help: Much like the Young/Accelerated Leader, the Reluctant/Transitional Leader might suffer from Imposter Syndrome or be facing some significant team dysfunction at the very start. Coaching can help them adjust their mindset, strip away the noise, and develop mental clarity about setting expectations and leading through change.