Being good at the job is not the same as being ready to manage people.
Answer these 10 questions about the person you're considering promoting — or somebody you've recently moved into management.
Answer based on what they can confidently do today — not what you hope they'll learn once they've got the job.
“Are they a good employee?”
It's: “Have we prepared them for a completely different job?”
Give them the best possible start.
A promotion shouldn't be the point where management development begins by trial and error.
The promotion changes overnight.The skills don't.
Yesterday they were responsible for doing the job well.
Tomorrow they're responsible for helping other people do the job well.
That's not simply a promotion.
It's a change of profession.
Technical competence matters. Reliability matters. Experience matters.
But managing people also requires a different set of skills.
What new managers suddenly have to learn
Delegation
Knowing what to hand over, how clearly to explain it and how not to take it back.
Feedback
Helping people understand what they're doing well and what needs to change.
Difficult Conversations
Addressing issues early rather than hoping they disappear.
Managing Former Peers
Creating new boundaries without destroying trusted relationships.
Performance Management
Setting expectations, holding people accountable and dealing fairly with underperformance.
Coaching
Developing people's judgement rather than becoming the answer to every problem.
Promote potential.
But develop capability.
New managers do not need to know everything before they start. But they do need support, structure and practical management skills if they're going to become somebody people genuinely want to work for.
