You're Here, Now What? The 5 Biggest Mistakes New Leaders Make

One summer, my family and I visited my wife’s best friend in California, and the only thing I wanted to do was surf. Our friends set me up with a surf enthusiast who showed up at Huntington Beach with what looked like 40 surfboards strapped to his vehicle. I was in my mid-twenties, coaching football and working out with my players, so he figured I only needed a quick lesson on paddling out and popping up.

It took me about 45 minutes just to fight my way out to the lineup. When I finally caught a wave and stood up, the joy lasted about two seconds. Water started smacking me in the face, I froze, and the wave kept rushing me toward the shore whether I was ready or not. I even ran into someone on the way in. The only thing that saved me was my instructor yelling, “Fall off! Just fall off the back!”

Back on the beach, I asked him why he never told me what to do once I was actually up on a wave. He said, “Honestly, I never expected you to ride one.”

That is exactly what it feels like for a lot of new leaders. You work hard, you get the promotion, and then you realize nobody ever told you what to do once you are on the wave. That is why I wrote my book, You’re Here, Now What? The 5 Biggest Mistakes New Leaders Make.

Key Takeaways

• Being good at your old job does not prepare you to lead. Leadership is a different role that takes a different set of skills.

• The five biggest mistakes new leaders make are not realizing you are always on stage, pretending to know everything, avoiding difficult conversations, micromanaging instead of leading outcomes, and failing to build trust intentionally.

• Do not try to fix everything at once. Pick one mistake to stop and one skill to build, and give it 90 days.

• The five skills every leader needs to develop are influence, character, priorities, attitude, and growth.

• Leadership is learnable. You either get a little better or a little worse every day.

Why do new managers struggle?

Most people get promoted because they were great at their job. The best salesperson becomes the sales manager. The best technician becomes the supervisor. The problem is that being good at your previous position does not prepare you for the challenges of leading people. They are completely different roles.

The bad news is that almost nobody tells you this. Much like my surf instructor, the people who promoted you probably never expected you to need instructions for what comes next.

It shows up in the data. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 report found that manager engagement fell from 31% in 2022 to 22% in 2025. A lot of leaders are riding the wave and hoping they do not crash.

What are the biggest mistakes new managers make?

These are the five I see most often, and I have made every one of them myself.

1. Not realizing you are always on stage. The moment you become the leader, people watch everything you do. How you talk about others, how you handle stress, and how you act on a bad day all set the tone for your team. I wrote more about this in my post on leadership habits.

2. Pretending to know everything. A lot of new leaders feel like they have to have every answer to prove they deserve the job. Your team can tell when you are faking it. Saying “I don’t know, but I will find out” builds more credibility than bluffing ever will.

3. Avoiding difficult conversations. Hard conversations do not get easier when you wait. They get bigger. The problem you avoid this week becomes the crisis you are cleaning up next quarter.

4. Micromanaging instead of leading outcomes. When you were doing the work yourself, you controlled every detail. Now your job is to make sure the team gets the result. Be clear about the outcome, then give your people room to own how they get there.

5. Failing to build trust intentionally. Trust does not show up just because you have a title. You build it through small, consistent actions over time, and you can lose it in a moment. I learned that the hard way when I lost my best salesperson over a promise I did not keep.

What should a new manager focus on in the first 90 days?

The biggest mistake I see after someone learns these five mistakes is trying to fix all of them at once. That does not work. It is not realistic to stop five bad habits and build five new skills at the same time.

Habits take longer to form than most people think. You have probably heard it takes 21 days. A 2009 study from University College London found it took about 66 days on average for a new behavior to become automatic. (Lally et al., European Journal of Social Psychology)

So in your first 90 days, keep it simple. Pick one mistake you want to stop making and one skill you want to develop. Work on those every single day. Once they start to feel natural, add the next one.

In the book, I break down the five skills every leader needs to develop:

• Influence: leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.

• Character: who you are when nobody is watching.

• Priorities: focusing on the few things that matter most.

• Attitude: the way you show up sets the tone for everyone around you.

• Growth: developing yourself on purpose, not by accident.

Can you really learn to be a leader?

Yes. Leadership is learnable. It is like a muscle. If you have never trained it, you start small and build over time.

You will still make mistakes along the way. I certainly have. But mistakes can become turning points if you are willing to learn from them. Every day, you do one of two things: you get a little better, or you get a little worse. There is no standing still.

And remember, I did eventually ride that wave. I just needed someone to tell me what to do once I was up on it.

Where can I go from here?

If you have just stepped into a leadership role, or you have been in one for a while and still feel like you are hanging on for dear life, You’re Here, Now What? was written for you. It walks through all five mistakes and all five skills in detail, with practical exercises and a 90-day plan to put it into action. It is available now on the Books tab.

If you would rather work through it with someone in your corner, that is what I do in One-on-One Coaching. And whenever you are ready to talk about where you are as a leader, reach out through my contact page. I would love to hear your story.

Truly Caring for YOUR Success,

Coach Clark