8 Tips on How to Succeed as a First-Time People Manager

Becoming a first-time manager can feel intimidating. You want to support your team as best you can, but you're still learning the ropes yourself. The truth is, leaders at all levels experience uncertainty and make mistakes. However, with expert guidance, you can step into your new role with more confidence and avoid some of the common pitfalls that new managers often face.

In this article, you’ll find eight expert-backed tips on how to be a successful first-time people manager.

8 Tips on How to Succeed as a First-Time People Manager, According to Experts

Looking for first-time manager tips? This section covers eight pieces of advice from knowledgeable leaders with first-hand experience.

1. Inspire and Enable Your Team

New to management? Embrace your power as a multiplier. Instead of solely focusing on your own tasks, concentrate on inspiring and enabling your team.

Explore different leadership styles to understand what resonates with each team member, leveraging your emotional intelligence to connect and adapt. By tailoring your approach, you'll amplify your impact and drive significant team outcomes.

Samantha Davis, Cprime Elabor8

2. Trade Doing for Coaching

First, when becoming a people manager, you need to "let it go.” You can stop doing your day-to-day operational tasks – they are no longer your job.

Next, you need to determine the seniority of the people you are managing and modify your involvement accordingly, whether it will be directive or coaching.

Under the assumption that you did not become a manager just to tell the people what to do, you need to invest in coaching education and practice.

Bojan Smudja, Agilefrogg

3. Focus on Your Team, Not Just Results

Many first-time managers focus too much on achieving quick results — they step in, remind, monitor, and push the team to finish the task. This approach might work in the short term, but over time, it can trap the manager in micromanagement and create a team that depends on them for every step.

Your real job isn’t to deliver the outcome yourself — it’s to build a strong, independent, creative team that can deliver outcomes without you. Start with that mindset from day one.

Alexandra Baptizmanskaya, Co-Actors

4. Lead with Clarity and Courage

Stepping into a managerial role means you're no longer a passenger; you're in the driver’s seat. Embrace that responsibility fully, take ownership, and develop the team by sharing knowledge and experience transparently. The more your team develops and gains skills, the more effective and credible you become as a leader.

Create a space for your team to try and experiment by fostering an open and safe environment. Psychological safety is not a luxury; it’s a necessity for high performance.

At the same time, be firm with dysfunctional behaviors. There is no place for manipulation or highly skilled people who lack integrity. Set the tone by modeling the standards you expect from others.

By leading with clarity, authenticity, and accountability, you are helping your team reach their maximum potential. Feeling safe is one of the most important aspects of people development, and this will lead to your success as a people manager.

Haitham Zaki, VIDSCOLA DWC – LLC

5. Listen to Your People

The most brilliant mind is a shared one. Early in my leadership journey, I believed it was my job to have the answers. Until one day, my mentor stopped me and said: “What if you let them go first? Just listen. You might be surprised.” I was.

Not only did they come up with a better idea than mine, but something else happened—I saw them come alive. When people feel heard, they bring their whole selves to the table. That day, I stopped trying to be the smartest person in the room. I started listening more and leading better.

As the Stoic philosopher Zeno reminded us, we have two ears and one mouth—so we can listen more than we speak.

Fred Madrigal, Sinnplify

6. Let Go of the Hero Role

When we step into leadership, many of us, often unconsciously, reach for the hero role: the one who must have the answers, carry the load, and protect others at all costs. It comes from a good place: care, responsibility, and a deep desire to do right.

However, this archetype quietly carries a dangerous illusion - that we know what is best for everyone. From this well-intentioned yet misguided place, we make decisions that can unintentionally limit others rather than help them grow. We become the bottleneck instead of the catalyst, the shield instead of the stepping stone.

True leadership isn't about being the hero of everyone else's story. It's about becoming conscious of your leadership imprints and patterns, then choosing to lead in the way that works for those you're guiding. This means trading the comfort of control for the vulnerability of trust and exchanging the weight of having all the answers for the wisdom of asking the right questions.

The most powerful leaders aren't those who save the day—they're the ones who empower others to become the heroes of their own journeys.

Antoinette Coetzee, Centre for Agile Coaching

7. Clarify Roles and Responsibilities Early

As a first-time people manager, it’s essential to recognize that what may seem obvious to you might not be clear to your team. Starting with defining key decision areas and responsibilities will create clarity and accountability from the beginning.

When people know their decision areas and boundaries, they will feel empowered to take ownership of the decisions they make. This helps ensure that your team knows what’s expected of them and fosters a sense of responsibility for their work.

Nastassia Krupiankova, AgileLAB GmbH

8. Empower Others to Solve Problems

The biggest trap new managers fall into is thinking they need to have all the answers. You don’t.

Your real job is to create an environment where your team feels safe enough to bring problems, propose ideas, and even challenge you. That means listening more than speaking, setting clear expectations without micromanaging, and treating mistakes as opportunities for learning rather than failure.

When you lead with curiosity and humility, people step up to the challenge. When you don’t, they shut down.

John Barratt, Agile Affinity

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Conclusion

What’s the thread that connects all of this expert advice? It’s the mindset of a supportive, empowering leader. Engage in active listening, encourage independent thinking, and don’t worry about having all the answers. Focus on creating a team environment that fosters ownership, collaboration, and confidence.

Remember, taking on a new role will always be a learning experience. Whether entry level or senior, it’s not about being a perfect leader, but about being an authentic one.

Prepare for your first leadership role with the Leadership Essentials Skills Collection. Each microcredential covers essential leadership skills, including authentic leadership, emotional intelligence, and navigating conflict.

Ready to become a confident first-time leader? Sign up for your first Leadership Essentials course today.

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8 Tips on How to Succeed as a First-Time People Manager