04/03/2025
๐ทโโ๏ธ Iโve worked with so many technically brilliant managersโsharp, dependable, and absolutely essential to their organizations.
But time and again, Iโve seen something else:
They get promoted because they ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ง๐ง, not because they know how to lead people in powerful ways.
And that gap? It shows up in subtle but powerful ways.
Here are ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ Iโve seen (again and again) that a technically skilled manager is struggling in a leadership role:
1. ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ.
Instructions are vague. Feedback is fuzzy. People are constantly asking, โWhat do they really mean?โ
2. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐.
You walk into the room and somethingโs offโpeople are guarded, interactions are strained, and no one looks forward to working together.
3. ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐.
Not because the team has nothing to say, but because they donโt feel safe enough to say it.
4. ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ โ๐๐ฒ๐.โ
Team members agree quickly, but itโs just to move on. Itโs not buy-inโitโs burnout or avoidance.
5. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐ท๐ผ๐, ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ.
Wins go unrecognized. Effort feels invisible. And little by little, people disengage.
These arenโt โpersonality issues.โ Theyโre signs of a deeper gap:
๐ A gap between ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด and ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
Most of us--including myself-- don't come to this world with flawless people managing skills. And even when we do learn them, different contexts often demand different approaches.
As a result, our teams struggle. People spend their days putting out fires, and real progress becomes hard to measure.
But what can be really frustrating is that this is completely solvable. With support, these managers can become exactly the leaders their teams need.
Letโs stop settling for technical excellence without powerful, motivating engaging human-centered leadership. It can be done.
At Alejandra Mielke, PhD Coaching & Consulting, LLC, we fix leadership challenges that result in lack of productivity, low engagement, and slow growth.
