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First Time Leadership First Time Leadership, developed by Daniel Lee of Simple Leadership of Singapore, is a leadership programme for Team leaders to enable team motivation.

You can be friends with your team, but what happens when friendship gets in the way of leadership?Yesterday, you were pe...
30/09/2026

You can be friends with your team, but what happens when friendship gets in the way of leadership?

Yesterday, you were peers.

Today, you’re responsible for their performance, development and sometimes their opportunities.

Your role has changed, and so has the relationship.

Many first-time managers and leaders struggle because they want to preserve the old relationship.

And so, they avoid difficult conversations, give extra chances, solve problems instead of developing people, and become more concerned about being liked than being trusted.

Being friendly is not the same as being their friend, and being helpful is not the same as developing them.

For Heads of Department, there is another challenge.

Your relationship with one Team Leader can affect how the rest of the department experiences fairness, access and opportunity.

You may not intend to create favourites, but perception matters.

So perhaps the real question is “Can I maintain this relationship without compromising my responsibility as a leader?”

In every team, there is the work of the team, and the work of the team leader.Many team leaders spend too much time doin...
28/09/2026

In every team, there is the work of the team, and the work of the team leader.

Many team leaders spend too much time doing the first, but their main job is not to do the work.

It is to create an environment where your team can do their work well.

That means getting better at these leadership activities, such as:

Setting expectations.
Creating clarity.
Goal setting.
Delegation.
Coaching.
Feedback.
Performance conversations.
Conflict resolution.
Trust building.
Removing obstacles.
Accountability.

You cannot directly control how well your team performs, but you can control these leadership activities that influence the conditions in which they perform.

Your value as a leader does not come from doing the work, but from enabling your team to accomplish without you doing the work for them.

So, Are you doing the work of the team, or the work of the leader?

A common mistake new managers make is trying to become the best doer on the team.They step in, solve problems, and work ...
23/09/2026

A common mistake new managers make is trying to become the best doer on the team.

They step in, solve problems, and work harder to become the bottleneck of their team.

If you are currently leading a team, stop doing your old job.

Now, your job as a leader is to create an environment where your team can do their jobs well.

That means getting better at:

Goal setting.
Delegation.
Coaching.
Feedback.
Performance conversations.
Conflict resolution.
Trust building.
Team dynamics.
Self-leadership.
Removing obstacles.
Holding others accountable.
Set expectations.
Create clarity.

This was what I told a class of public servants recently.

Most of them struggle in their leadership because they try to control what they cannot, which is how productive another person will be.

And they fail to focus on what they can influence, which are the conditions in which their team works in, and the leadership activities that make that outcome more likely.

An ex-boss of mine use to say “Control the controllable.”

I will add “Influence the Influenceable.”

Focus on what you can control and influence, then let your team do their job.

You were promoted because you were good at your job.But being good at your job does n not automatically make you ready t...
18/09/2026

You were promoted because you were good at your job.

But being good at your job does n not automatically make you ready to lead.

As an individual contributor, you succeed by doing the work well.

But as a leader, you succeed by enabling others to do their work well.

The problem is that as an individual contributor, when someone struggles, your instinct is often to help with the answer, solve the problem, rr even do the work yourself.

It feels helpful, but that can create dependency, because helping is not the same as developing.

Your job as a leader is not to remove every struggle, but to develop people who can handle those struggles themselves.

And this becomes even more important in middle management, where you need to develop leaders who can lead without depending on you.

So instead of always asking, “How can I help?”

Try asking: “What do you think you should do?”

What are you still doing for your team that they should be learning to do for themselves?

One of the hardest things about becoming a team leader is realising: Your job is no longer to be the best person at doin...
09/09/2026

One of the hardest things about becoming a team leader is realising: Your job is no longer to be the best person at doing the work.

As a team member, you’re responsible for ex*****on; do the work well, meet standards, deliver results, take ownership, and show initiative.

When you become a team leader or supervisor, your job changes, and you are now responsible for enabling other people to do the work and deliver results.

That means getting better at:

Goal setting.
Delegation.
Coaching.
Feedback.
Performance conversations.
Conflict resolution.
Trust building.
Team dynamics.
Self-leadership.

You do not have to be fantastic at all of them, but you need to be good enough at least for a few of them to help your team perform.

If you are leading a team for the first time, you will recognise that it is very tempting to stay close to do some of the work, because that is where you are comfortable.

But your value is no longer just what you personally get done.

It’s what your team can achieve because of you.

So, are you still focused on doing the work, or becoming better at enabling others to do it well?

Some managers are still doing the job, but they stopped caring about it.They are tired of management, politics, and havi...
02/09/2026

Some managers are still doing the job, but they stopped caring about it.

They are tired of management, politics, and having to solve the same problems.

But they still have a team depending on them, and who needs them to show up to listen, remove obstacles, give clarity, and to help them do their jobs better.

That is why I think leadership is fundamentally about service, not because you are beneath your team, but because you are responsible for them.

Nobody wants to work for a leader who only asks: “What do I get out of this?”

They want a leader who also asks: “What does my team need from me?”

Sometimes, meaning at work does not come from loving the job.

It comes from knowing your leadership makes someone else’s job a little better.

It is how you respond to mistakes, in listening, and in making life a little easier for the people around you.

So, who are you serving through your leadership today?

Many leaders say: “I don’t play office politics.”Of course. Nobody really wants to manipulate people.Why self-promote if...
31/08/2026

Many leaders say: “I don’t play office politics.”

Of course. Nobody really wants to manipulate people.

Why self-promote if ones’ work can speak for itself.

But office politics does not disappear because you choose not to participate.

At its simplest, politics is about opinions.

Who do people trust, listen to, and support.

The same thing happens at work.

Some people believe hard work will automatically get noticed.

But most people are busy with their own work, may not see what you are doing, and may not understand your decisions.

And they likely will not automatically form a favourable opinion of you.

Leadership requires influence, and influence requires relationships.

An effective leader does not play games, but is intentional about the reputation they build.

If you do not manage the politics around you, the politics may eventually manage you.

What opinions are people forming about you when you are not in the room?

“What do you expect from me?”Every leader should be able to answer that question, and so should your team.One of the fir...
25/08/2026

“What do you expect from me?”

Every leader should be able to answer that question, and so should your team.

One of the first things I do in every leadership engagement is set expectations with my participants.

(Have a look at the image on what they expected on me in return.)

Jokes aside, expectations are essential in leadership.

1 - What do you expect from your team?
2 - How do you want them to work?
3 - And what can they expect from you?

Many leaders struggle because they fail to clear communicate their expectations.

Then when performance falls short, the conversation becomes:

“Why didn’t you do this?”

While the employee is thinking: “I didn’t know that’s what you expected.”

Sometimes, it isn’t a performance problem, bit one about expectations.

Be clear about what good performance looks like, what needs to be done to get there, and what will happen when performance falls short.

Expectations work both ways.

Your team needs to know what you expect from them, and they also need to know what they can expect from you.

Have you clearly set the expectations your team needs to succeed?

One of the most frustrating things for a manager is an employee who always has an excuse.“Nobody told me.”, “That’s not ...
24/08/2026

One of the most frustrating things for a manager is an employee who always has an excuse.

“Nobody told me.”, “That’s not my job.”, “I was waiting for instructions.”, or “It wasn’t my fault.”

We quickly label them as difficult employees.

But what if the excuse is not the real problem, but a symptom?

I see four common employee types:

1 - The Comfortable Employee.
2 - The Dependent Employee.
3 - The Transactional Employee.
4 - The Fearful Employee.

Of course, understanding the excuse doesn’t mean accepting poor performance.

Correctly identifying if an excuse is the problem or merely a symptom means understanding what different leadership conversations you must have.

And of course, excuses are not just limited to employees. Even leaders make then too.

“My team doesn’t care.”, “My boss doesn’t support me.”, or “I inherited the wrong people.”

Some may be true, but they are still excuses for inaction.

The next time someone gives you an excuse, ask: “What is this excuse trying to tell me?”

It’s hard to get out of bed and go to work when you work for a terrible boss.It’s a little easier when you work for a go...
20/08/2026

It’s hard to get out of bed and go to work when you work for a terrible boss.

It’s a little easier when you work for a good one.

Recently, I was running a leadership programme when I overheard a participant say:
“I’m already jaded by my work. I lead so my team can enjoy their work. That’s about my main motivation now.”

A leader can become disengaged long before their team does.

And sometimes, we try to compensate by making our team’s experience better than our own.

That is a good intention.

But it raises a difficult question: What if your own disengagement is quietly shaping the way you lead?

If you want more critical thinking, ownership, initiative and ideas from your team, don’t just tell people to be more proactive.

Give them room to think, let them make decisions, ask for their ideas, give them responsibilities, not just tasks.

Most importantly, bring the energy of enthusiasm into the room.

If your team is becoming disengaged, perhaps you have become disengaged yourself?

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