Risen from the ranks?
Transitioning into a supervisory role is a milestone that’s often marked by a mix of excitement and trepidation—that uncertainty that comes with taking on a new challenge. Many newly promoted leaders, typically elevated from within based on their exceptional technical skills, suddenly find themselves in new territory where success is no longer solely about their individual output.
Instead, their primary objective shifts to achieving results through their team. This fundamental change can be incredibly challenging, as the skills that made them an excellent individual contributor—such as direct effort and hard work—may not translate directly into effective leadership.
How Frontline Leaders Can Make or Break Team Performance: Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Frontline leaders are often described as being “caught in the middle,” balancing expectations from both the management team and their team members. They act as ambassadors, conveying information from management to their teams and bringing concerns and suggestions back up the chain. This dual responsibility, combined with the inherent difficulties of a new leadership position, can lead to common pitfalls. While there are many potential missteps, three frequently observed mistakes can significantly hinder a newly promoted supervisor’s ability to foster an engaged, productive, and satisfied team, leading to increased stress and suboptimal team performance. Understanding these common errors and their solutions is crucial for any new leader aiming for long-term success.
Mistake 1: Falling into the “Leadership Trap”
One of the most pervasive mistakes newly promoted supervisors make is inadvertently falling into what is known as the “leadership trap“. Driven by a desire to show their team that they are available, helpful, and ready to listen, new leaders often adopt an open-door policy. While this seemingly benevolent approach aims to foster approachability, it can quickly lead to disorganization and a feeling of constantly “putting out fires”.
Why The Leadership Trap is a Problem
The core problem with an unchecked open-door policy is that it often conditions team members to approach the supervisor only when an issue, question, or concern arises. This creates a dynamic where, in order to get face time or attention from their leader, employees may inadvertently create issues or seek constant guidance. As a result, the supervisor ends up spending a disproportionate amount of their time addressing problems brought by their lower performers or those who demand more attention.
Inevitably, this leaves high-performing team members feeling ignored, as they are less likely to seek out the supervisor with constant problems, despite also desiring recognition and connection! This can breed resentment and a sense of being undervalued among the very individuals who consistently deliver strong results.
Signs that a supervisor is caught in this trap include:
- feeling disorganized
- having their days constantly interrupted
- always reacting to urgent issues rather than proactively planning
Escaping The Leadership Trap
The solution to escaping the leadership trap lies in implementing a proactive walk-around schedule. Instead of waiting for problems to come to them, effective leaders make it a point to regularly and intentionally touch base with every member of their team throughout the day or shift. This proactive engagement ensures that everyone receives an equal amount of face time and attention, regardless of whether they have an immediate problem to report.
For example, a supervisor might walk through their department shortly after the shift begins, checking in with each person, asking how they are doing, and if they need anything to accomplish their tasks. The best practice would be to do it 2-3 more times during the shift. This consistent presence and inquiry help prevent issues from escalating into crises, as minor concerns can be addressed before they become urgent “fires”.
This structured approach offers several significant benefits:
- It ensures that all team members feel seen and valued equally, reducing the perception that you need a “problem” to get the leader’s attention. This helps prevent disengagement and promotes a more inclusive culture.
- The leader gains more control over their day, feels more organized, and less like they are constantly reacting to chaos.
- This method frees up valuable, uninterrupted time for the supervisor to focus on higher-value activities such as training team members, implementing improvements, and resolving more complex, significant issues.
- When supervisors make a conscious effort to remember and follow up on issues raised during these proactive check-ins, it demonstrates care and builds confidence and trust within the team. Using a notebook to jot down concerns helps ensure follow-up and reinforces the leader’s reliability. This practice contributes to a positive work environment where employees need to feel that their concerns are taken seriously.
Ultimately, moving from a reactive, open-door stance to a proactive walk-around approach transforms the supervisor from constantly putting out fires into an organized, impactful leader who invests in their team’s overall development and engagement. This is a crucial skill for any new leader and a key component of effective frontline leadership.
Mistake 2: Frontline Leaders Attempting to Handle Everything Themselves
Another common pitfall for newly promoted supervisors is the tendency to try handling everything themselves. This behavior often stems from a dual motivation: a strong desire to impress upper management and prove they “got this” in their new role, and a need to demonstrate competence and worthiness to their former peers now under their supervision.
Having been promoted for their strong technical skills and individual work ethic, these new leaders often default to what they know best: putting in more effort and doing more work personally to achieve results. This approach is often what led them to be promoted as an individual contributor in the first place, but it is counterproductive for a leader.
The Problem With Doing Everything Yourself
I think many of us will agree—just reading that heading—we know what the problem is! This approach is severely counterproductive in a leadership role, even with the best of intentions. When a supervisor takes on every task and solves every problem, it leads to several negative consequences:
- Supervisor Overwhelm: The leader quickly becomes overloaded, stressed, and burned out as they are trying to do the work of an entire team alone. This is particularly common for a working leader who is still expected to perform tasks in addition to their managerial duties.
- Team Underdevelopment: Team members are left sitting idle or, worse, are not coached and built up. Instead of teaching and empowering their team to solve problems, the supervisor simply fixes mistakes or takes over tasks, preventing the team from developing problem-solving skills and accountability.
- Lack of Empowerment and Cross-Training: This prevents the team from becoming self-sufficient and cross-trained, creating a dependency on the supervisor that hinders overall departmental flexibility and efficiency. If a team member makes a mistake on a report, an overwhelmed leader might simply fix it rather than take the time to coach them on how to do it correctly next time. The new leader fails to realize that their job is to empower frontline workers to succeed on their own.
The Solution for Attempting to Handle Everything
The solution to this mistake is effective delegation and empowerment. A great supervisor recognizes that their role is to get work done through others, not by doing all the work themselves. This involves strategically distributing tasks and responsibilities in a way that develops the team while freeing up the supervisor’s time for higher-value activities. This process is known as proactive empowerment, and it is a key differentiator between a new manager and a great one.
Effective delegation involves:
- Delegating what you’re not good at (or don’t enjoy). Leaders should identify tasks they struggle with or dislike, especially if there’s a team member who is better suited or more interested in those tasks. This allows others to shine and contributes to their growth.
- Delegating repetitive or consistently problematic tasks. If the supervisor finds themselves constantly fixing the same problem or performing a repetitive task that others should be able to handle, it’s an opportunity for empowerment through coaching, training, and development.
- Proactive empowerment and accountability. Instead of passively waiting for team members to ask for tasks, leaders should proactively assign responsibilities and hold individuals accountable for their results. This means clear expectations and providing consequences for both success and failure, rather than removing consequences by fixing problems yourself.
The foundation of effective delegation and empowerment is robust on-the-job training. Many managers find that new hires quit due to inadequate training, and even experienced team members may not be natural trainers. Line managers must ensure that frontline training is systematic and effective, following a clear methodology.
- Prepare: Provide an overview of the task, including key steps, safety hazards, and job aids.
- Demonstrate and explain: Show the steps while describing them, explaining why each step is vital for success in terms of quality, safety, or efficiency. Using the word “because” and taking the time to explain the reason you want someone to do something can significantly increase compliance.
- Have them do the task and teach it back to you: The learner performs the task while explaining the steps, demonstrating their understanding.
- Repeat and reinforce: Observe multiple cycles, provide coaching, and gradually reduce oversight as confidence grows. This method helps to build a pipeline of skilled workers for the future.
By empowering their team through effective delegation and comprehensive training, supervisors can shift their team members into a learning zone, fostering self-reliance, increased engagement, and a stronger bench strength for the department. This not only makes the supervisor’s job easier; it also contributes significantly to overall team and organizational success.
Mistake 3: New Leaders Not Being Open to Feedback
A third common challenge for newly promoted supervisors is a struggle with giving and, perhaps more critically, being open to feedback. Often, as former technical operators, these new frontline leaders have identified numerous issues with how things were previously run and are eager to implement change quickly. They are convinced their proposed improvements will make the team better, but they may inadvertently forget a crucial principle: achieving results in a leadership role is fundamentally about getting things done through the team, which requires their buy-in and cooperation.
Why Closing Yourself Off to Feedback Can Be an Issue
Introducing too many changes too quickly, without adequately involving the team or being receptive to their perspectives, can lead to significant resistance. Even if the new leader was promoted from within, their new position already represents a shift in team dynamics. Piling on rapid, disruptive changes can be unsettling, particularly in environments where consistency and predictability are valued.
This lack of openness to feedback and failure to involve the team can cause new initiatives to fall flat and create a wall of resistance from team members who feel overwhelmed or unheard. When employees feel their ideas are ignored or management fails to act on feedback, they can become disillusioned and demotivated. This kind of disengagement can severely impact productivity and morale.
How to Be More Open to Feedback
The solution involves actively seeking feedback and involving the team in the change process. This fosters a sense of shared ownership and minimizes resistance. Here are practical strategies:
- Proactively solicit input: Ask team members for their ideas on how to improve the department. Frame it as “how we can improve,” recognizing that those working have valuable insights. This can be done through direct discussions or by encouraging private submissions of ideas (e.g., via email) to make people feel more comfortable sharing sensitive suggestions.
- Celebrate their ideas: If a team member proposes an idea that aligns with an improvement the leader already had in mind, celebrate it as their idea. The goal is successful implementation with minimal resistance, not personal credit. This also helps the leader gauge if the team is on the same page regarding needed changes. This is one of the most effective management tools for a new leader.
- Manage the pace of change: Recognize that too much change can be disruptive. Sometimes, it’s better to implement easier changes first, building momentum and trust before tackling more difficult, systemic shifts.
- Clarify expectations and explain “Why”: Many performance issues arise because employees don’t clearly understand what is expected of them or why certain procedures are important. Great managers prevent problems by clearly defining expectations for performance, rules of conduct, and reporting structures. When communicating requests or changes, explaining the “why” behind them significantly increases buy-in and reduces resistance. For instance, instead of just stating a new rule, explain its purpose and how it contributes to the overall success or safety of the team and company. Having clear expectations is a foundation of a positive work environment.
- Embrace a Coach leadership style: A coaching approach emphasizes clarifying expectations, asking for input, and using positive feedback to build on strengths. This contrasts with autocratic or overly rigid styles that stifle team input and lead to resentment.
- Practice effective listening: Being an attentive and active listener is important. Encourage team members to communicate more by using inviting phrases like “Tell me more” or “Help me understand that better”. Leaders who genuinely listen, without prejudging, build strong relationships and foster trust, making team members more comfortable bringing issues and suggestions forward.
By cultivating an environment where feedback is welcomed, team members feel heard, and change is a collaborative process, many frontline leaders and managers can transform potential resistance into collective engagement, driving meaningful and sustainable improvements.
The Path to Long-Term Success: Becoming an Effective Frontline Leader
The transition to a supervisory role is a pivotal point in one’s career, demanding a shift from individual technical mastery to adept team leadership. Newly promoted supervisors, while often highly competent in their previous roles, can stumble by falling into the leadership trap, attempting to do it all themselves, or failing to be genuinely open to feedback from their team.
However, by understanding these common mistakes and proactively implementing strategic solutions, new leaders can navigate this transition with greater ease and effectiveness. Embracing a proactive walk-around style, delegating for empowerment and development, and fostering an environment of open communication and genuine feedback are not just best practices; they are foundational elements for building a high-performing, engaged, and resilient team.
Ultimately, successful leadership is less about inherent personality traits and more about learned behaviors, continuous self-improvement, and a commitment to growing oneself and others. By avoiding these common pitfalls and focusing on people-centric, proactive strategies, new supervisors can reduce their own stress, maximize their team’s potential, and achieve lasting success in their leadership journey. Leadership development programs often focus on these essential skills, providing the tools and insights needed to transform challenges into opportunities for growth. We are always available to have a conversation about your training needs. You can reach out by heading to our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
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