I thought I was being clear. We needed our QA team to shift their approach. Stop waiting until features were complete to start testing. Get involved earlier. Test continuously throughout development, not just at the end. I explained it in a team meeting. I sent follow-up emails. I talked about it in one-on-ones. Everyone nodded. Everyone said they understood. Three months later, they were still testing the same way they always had. The problem wasn't that they didn't want to change. The problem wasn't that I hadn't communicated the change. The problem was that I had shared information without ensuring they actually heard it. There's a massive difference between those two things. What Your Team Actually Hears Here's what I learned from that QA situation: your team isn't hearing your current message. They're hearing your current message filtered through every past experience they've had with leadership. The QA team had spent years being told th...

You just got promoted. Congratulations. You’re now leading managers, the people who lead the people. That means your job has changed in a fundamental way. You’re no longer the person who does the work or even directly manages those who do it. You’re the person who creates enough clarity that others can lead effectively without you. The First Shock: Progress Feels Slower When you managed individuals, you could move fast, jump into the details, fix issues, and see progress that same afternoon. Now? Everything feels slower. Not because your team is weaker, but because your intent has to travel through two layers of interpretation. Every gap in clarity multiplies as it moves down the org chart. Your new challenge isn’t doing more; it’s being understood faster. Your Real Work Is the Communication Loop Clarity doesn’t end when you hit “Send” or finish a meeting. You have to close the loop.; That means: Checking that your message landed the way you intended Listening for how it’s bei...

You just got promoted. Congratulations. Now you're leading someone who's been doing this work since before you graduated college. Maybe they started at the company when you were in high school. Maybe they interviewed you once and didn't hire you. And now you're their manager. Here's the paradox: New leaders think they need to prove they deserve the role before they can lead experienced people. But experienced people won't follow you until you show them you value their experience. Most new managers get this backwards. They think their job is to have answers. So they start managing everyone the same way. "Here are your assignments. Here are the deadlines. Let me know if you have questions." That approach fails with experienced people. Not because they won't do the work, but because you just told them their 15 years of experience doesn't matter. What New Leaders Mistake for Respect You think treating everyone equally is fair. It's not. It'...

You just got promoted. Congratulations. You're now managing people who were your equals last week. Here's what nobody tells you: the hardest part isn't managing your former peers. It's that you haven't stopped being their peer yet. The Problem Isn't Your Old Relationships Most advice about managing former peers focuses on "establishing authority" or "setting boundaries." That's not wrong, but it misses the real issue. The problem is you're still thinking like a peer. You still wait for consensus before making calls. You still answer every question directly instead of asking why they're asking. You still treat decisions like group projects instead of your job. Your team isn't confused about the org chart. They're confused because you are. What It's NOT It's not treating everyone the same. You think fairness means acting like nothing changed. It doesn't. Your friend who struggles with deadlines needs different m...

Your project just got killed in a meeting you weren't invited to. The VP who torpedoed it? You've never had a real conversation with them. This happens more than you think. Most leaders schedule 1-on-1s with their directs and skip-levels. Almost nobody schedules them with peers. That's leaving influence on the table. Why sideways relationships matter more than you realize Your next project will require budget from Finance, support from IT, or alignment with Operations. If the first time you're talking to those leaders is when you need something, you're already behind. The pattern I see constantly: Leaders who struggle to get things done often have great relationships up and down the org chart, but nothing sideways. "Build relationships before you need them. If the first time you're talking to those leaders is when you need something, you're already behind." How to actually do this Start simple. Pick 3-5 peers in other departments. Send a calenda...

 After 15 years leading teams, I've seen this pattern dozens of times: talented people getting micromanaged not because they're struggling, but because they're invisible.  Their manager doesn't know what's happening, so they start digging. Here's how to break the cycle before it starts. Are you frustrated with your manager's over-involvement in your projects? Do they check in on your status too often? Does your manager think they know more about the work than you do? What about those times when they redo your work for no reason? You have to wonder: with how busy our managers must be, how do they find so much time to control everything? The Micromanagers To understand how to fix this, we need to explore why different managers end up micromanaging. Over time, I've observed various kinds of micromanagement, each with distinct ways and reasons for managers to get over-involved. These are not one-size-fits-all situations. At some point, every manager will...

Your manager is micromanaging you. They probably don't want to. You definitely don't want them to. So why does it keep happening? Because there's a gap between what they need to feel confident and what you're giving them. Good news: you can close that gap. Are you frustrated with your manager's over-involvement in your projects? Do they check in on your status too often? Does your manager think they know more about the work than you do? What about those times when they redo your work for no reason? You have to wonder: with how busy our managers must be, how do they find so much time to control everything? The Micromanagers To answer this question, we need to explore why different managers end up micromanaging. Over time, I've observed various kinds of micromanagement, each with distinct ways and reasons for managers to get over-involved. These are not one-size-fits-all situations. At some point, every manager will probably exhibit each of these personas....

You can’t fire them. You can’t promote them. You can’t give big raises. And last semester, they were your peers. Now you’re chair responsible for budgets, outcomes, and student success with a team that technically reports to you but answers to no one. Some even think you “joined the dark side.” Welcome to academic leadership: authority without power. But here’s the truth: this isn’t a hopeless job. It’s just a different kind of leadership. One built not on control, but on influence, clarity, and trust. Here’s what that really looks like. The Chair’s Real Job You’re not here to manage faculty. You’re here to lead colleagues. That means: Remove obstacles so people can do their best work Build consensus around what matters Translate and advocate between faculty and administration Create conditions where faculty want to contribute Show your work so others see how individual choices drive collective outcomes Try this: Spend one week...