Elevating Early Leadership: Skills Every New Manager Needs to Succeed

Stepping into a management role is both exciting and challenging. From leading former peers to balancing team targets, new managers must quickly adapt to a world of shifting responsibilities, expectations, and opportunities. Aspiring leaders at Mercia’s Managers Conference explored how to embrace change, develop a leadership mindset, navigate common dilemmas, and build strong, inclusive teams. In this blog, we take a look at these challenges.

Preparing for management

Stepping into a line management role brings a whirlwind of change — a mix of new challenges to tackle and exciting opportunities to explore. Thomas Hewitt, Learning and Development Manager at Wilmington, opened the conference by sharing his personal reflections on the transition into management. He noted that this shift often comes with ‘some uncomfortable truths’, as well as hidden challenges that are rarely talked about.

‘In management, not everyone will like you,’ he explains. ‘Your priority shifts to doing what is best for the team and the organisation, which won’t always win you popularity.’

Hewitt spoke about the reality of supporting decisions you may not personally agree with, adding: ‘Part of being a leader is helping implement decisions you may not fully support, whilst still guiding your team with clarity and professionalism.’

While the challenges are real, Hewitt reflected on another side to management that often goes uncelebrated – the deeply rewarding side. Even if you’re not always liked, you can be respected for your fairness, empathy, or vision; therefore, your team may speak positively about you. You’ll also gain a new circle of support. As a manager, you’ll connect with peers and senior leaders who understand the pressures you’re facing, over time building trusted relationships.

These moments, big and small, are what make the challenge worthwhile. Leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about growth and showing up for others when it’s hard.

Effective Performance Management

After exploring the emotional realities of stepping into leadership, Hewitt changed the focus towards practical leadership tools – specifically the three key principles of effective performance management.

• Regular one to ones and structured performance reviews – This fosters open communication and demonstrates a genuine commitment to employee development.
• Feedback should never be ambiguous - Clear, timely and constructive feedback is essential.
• Flexibility – Sometimes objectives will need to be adjusted; therefore, communication is key.

Positive Role-Modelling

Hewitt says: ‘What you say as a leader is a whisper, but it will be heard as a shout by your team.’

He captured this idea with simplicity, as what feels like a small comment to you can land with great weight for your team. This is because leadership comes with authority, visibility and influence.

He continues: ‘What they see in terms of your behaviour is what they may think is necessary.’ Hewitt explained that subconsciously, the team believe that if they want to become a leader, they’ll need to act like you.

Embracing Change

Louise Conner, Mercia’s Management and Skills Trainer, explored how adopting a growth mindset and embracing change can help you build confidence and thrive in a constantly evolving environment. She highlighted that stepping into a leadership role is more than just a title change - it’s a fundamental shift in how you work, think, and lead.

Conner introduced the Kübler-Ross Change Curve, a powerful model that is widely used in leadership and business to help individuals and teams navigate and respond to change effectively. The Kübler-Ross Change Curve reminds us that everyone adapts at their own pace. By understanding the emotional journey that change brings, you’ll be better equipped to:

• Support your team with empathy and patience.
• Recognise and manage your own emotional response.
• Encourage resilience and growth through challenging transitions.

Growth Mindset

Conner delivered a powerful message of embracing a growth mindset over having a fixed mindset. Qualities of adopting a growth mindset is believing that ‘failure is an opportunity to grow’ and ‘challenges are made to help one improve’. She explained that having a growth mentality helps you treat mistakes as lessons rather than setbacks, which allows you to keep moving forward rather than dwelling on what went wrong.

New managers often feel pressure to have all the answers, but adopting this mindset, you are more likely to ask for input, show vulnerability, and create a team culture that values learning over perfection.

Networking with impact

Veteran business leader Bob Banister equips participants with essential skills to build a powerful professional presence and meaningful connections. He began by emphasising the importance of networking and the reasons why people engage in it. Bob expressed that your network is one of your most valuable career assets. As you step into leadership, it’s not just what you know — but who you know, and how well you stay connected. 85% of roles are filled through networking.