Moving from doing the work to leading the people doing the work is its own skill set. This is a working reference and self-check — not a lecture.
Before Anything Else
Challenges New Managers Face — and Watching Your Ego
Especially for younger or first-time leaders, these patterns show up constantly. None of them are a character flaw — they're just things worth watching for.
Common early challenges
Less experience making high-stakes decisions and setting priorities
A thinner network of mentors and advisors to lean on
Managing people who are older or more experienced than you
Balancing confidence in your own judgment with real humility
Handling pressure without burning out
Treating setbacks as data, not verdicts
Scaling your own leadership approach as the team grows
Staying focused on the real priorities instead of every shiny distraction
Building a culture deliberately, instead of by accident
Watch for these ego traps
Check any that resonate right now.
0
Look For This
Spot Leadership Potential on Your Team
Think of one specific direct report. Check anything that's genuinely true of them.
0
Self-Awareness Check
Your Style in Difficult Conversations
Check each statement that's mostly true of you. Don't overthink any one item — this is for self-awareness only, and most people are a mix of both patterns.
Avoidance tendency
0
out of 10
Aggression tendency
0
out of 10
Assertive behaviors worth building
Pick at least one to focus on — it'll show up in your plan at the bottom.
A Habit Worth Building
Listen for Content, Intent, and Emotion
Think of a specific recent conversation with a direct report, then work through these.
Rate Yourself
Coaching Self-Assessment
For each statement, how often is it true of you?
1 = Rarely2 = Sometimes3 = Usually
0
out of 60
A Simple Technique
Create Your Own Scale
A 1–10 scale is a fast way to talk about almost anything — especially the gap between how you see something and how someone else sees it. Pick two opposites, put the undesirable state at 1 and the desirable state at 10, and ask the question.
DifficultExtremely Easy
How would you rate this project?
5
PoorExcellent
How was your performance on the last project?
5
ToxicHealthy
How healthy are your workplace relationships right now?
5
FailureSuccessful
How accurate has your work been over the last month?
5
No EffortFull-Out Effort
How much effort have you put in this past quarter?
5
Build your own scale
Foundations
Lead Yourself First
Effective leadership starts with clarity on three things: your purpose, your vision, and the values you actually live by.
Build It Deliberately
Creating Team Culture
If you're building a mission, vision, values, or operating principles for your team, this is worth filling out yourself — and having each team member fill out too, ahead of a planning conversation.
Make It Real
My Plan
Work through the sections above and your focus areas will show up here.