The Leadership Edge – July Edition
I Was Promoted And… Expected to Just Know How to Lead
Welcome to The Leadership Edge, a monthly newsletter for managers and leaders navigating the realities of leadership in the real world. Each edition is grounded in real experience, focusing on what it actually feels like to lead people, rather than what we are often told it should look like.
For this first edition, I wanted to start with something personal. As the founder of The Good Managers Guide, this is an experience that shaped not only how I lead today, but why I built this in the first place.
My first experience of leadership
In my early 20s, I was promoted into a senior role without asking for it. One day I was simply doing my job, and the next I was carrying more responsibility, more pressure, and (without any real warning) the expectation that I would now lead other people as well. At first, it felt like progress, a sign that I was doing something right and moving forward.
That feeling didn’t last.
When Expectation Replaces Support
What followed was a far more difficult reality to navigate. There was no structured handover, no meaningful conversation about what leadership actually involved, and no support to help me adapt to the role. Nobody explained how to guide someone through a difficult situation, how to manage performance, or how to take responsibility for more than just my own output.
Instead, there was a quiet assumption that I would already know what I was doing.
When things didn’t go to plan (and they didn’t), I wasn’t given guidance or reassurance. I was reminded that I was now “senior,” and that I should already have the answers. I can still remember how that felt; not just the pressure, but the sense of isolation that came with it, as though struggling was something I was expected to deal with alone rather than something I should have been supported through.
At the time, I convinced myself this was normal, something everyone experienced and simply worked through. But as the years went on, and as I moved through different roles and organisations, something became increasingly clear.
A Pattern That Repeats Itself
This wasn’t just my experience.
Across teams, companies, and industries, I saw the same pattern again and again. People were promoted because they were technically strong, because they had been in the business the longest, or simply because it was the easiest option at the time. Leadership roles were being filled based on convenience or familiarity, not readiness.
Once those roles were assigned, people were left to figure them out on their own.
I saw capable individuals begin to struggle under the weight of expectations they had never been prepared for. Confidence would fade, frustration would build, and the impact would be felt not just by the manager, but by everyone around them.
In one situation that has stayed with me, I watched someone step into a management role while already under pressure. Within their first day, they were overwhelmed to the point of breaking down at their desk. It was difficult to witness, not because it was surprising, but because it was entirely avoidable.
It wasn’t a failure of the individual. It was a failure in how they had been placed into that position.
The Reality We Don’t Talk About Enough
Managing people is not instinctive. It is not something you simply absorb because your title changes. It is a skill, a responsibility, and a discipline that takes time, structure, and support to develop properly.
Yet, across so many organisations, it is still treated as something informal, something people are expected to “pick up” as they go.
The result is a system where managers are placed into roles they are not fully prepared for, and where the impact of that gap is carried quietly by teams, individuals, and organisations as a whole. Over time, experiences like this don’t just disappear (they stay with people, shaping how they lead, how they respond, and what they come to expect from others).
If you’ve ever found yourself in that position (stepping into a management or leadership role and simply expected to know), I’d be interested to hear how you navigated it.
Founder, The Good Managers Guide
Responses