The learning and development journey of a new manager

 

One day you are a trusted colleague. The next, you are responsible for leading the team, making decisions, managing individuals, and delivering results. Congratulations on your promotion to manager!

Now for the reality check. The first year of being a manager often brings the steepest learning curve of your career. You soon discover that delegating isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Giving feedback doesn’t automatically lead to better performance or greater understanding.  Building trust, handling conflict and balancing the needs of individuals with the demands of the business all take practice.

One thing we regularly see in our management development programmes is that new managers are surprised and often relieved to discover that their fellow new managers are all experiencing the same learning curve.

Here’s the learning curve explained in short:

• At first, you rely on the skills and habits that made you successful before, without realising that managing people requires something different.
• Then you start to see the gaps. You become aware of situations where your current approach isn’t working and realise there is more to learn.
• With practice, new skills develop. You learn techniques, try new approaches and become more confident—but you still need to think consciously about how you apply them.
• Eventually, good management becomes more natural. The skills and behaviours become part of how you work, allowing you to focus less on the process and more on the people and situation in front of you.

The Conscious Competence model

This journey was described by Noel Burch in the 1970s through the Conscious Competence model. The model can be universally applied as a model for learning. Although the model is more than 50 years old, it remains one of the simplest ways to understand how people develop new skills.

 

 

Stage 1 – Unconscious Incompetence: You don’t know what you don’t know

When you first become a manager, you are often unaware of the skills, behaviours and mindset shifts that the role requires. And why would you be? You have never needed them before.

At this stage, you may not even realise which skills you need to develop. You simply approach management in the same way you approached your previous role—by working hard, being a team player, solving problems and using the approaches that made you successful before.

Stage 2 – Conscious Incompetence: You know what you don’t know

Suddenly, you start to see the gaps. You realise that being a good manager involves much more than being good at your previous role. This awareness can be uncomfortable. You even question yourself: “Maybe I’m not cut out for this.”

This feeling is often a sign of progress, and an important turning point. You are no longer unaware of what management requires—you are now aware of what you need to learn.

Stage 3 – Conscious Competence: You know what you know

You have developed new skills and learned appraches that help you lead more effectively. You now know what it takes to delegate effectively, and how to give meaningul feedback. But, using these new skills still requires concsious effort. You know what good management looks like, but it does not always happen automatically yet.

At this stage, your ability to be flexible and proactive in unexpected situations is limited – but you can do it. The task-oriented aspects of managing are becoming fine-tuned but it is still learning by doing, trial and error, or copying managerial role models. You are testing your limits.

This stage is about practice. Every conversation, decision and experience helps you build confidence. Over time, the skills that once required careful thought begin to feel more natural.

Stage 4 – Unconscious Competence: You know it without having to think about it

You no longer have to consciously think through every conversation, decision or interaction. You have developed the experience and judgement to respond naturally to different situations. You know when to provide direction, when to give someone space and when to step in and support.

Delegating, giving feedback, developing people and building trust become less about following a process and more about understanding the person and the situation in front of you.

How to manage yourself through the learning curve

Understanding the learning journey is helpful, but knowing how to navigate it is more useful. As you develop as a manager, there are a few things that can make the process easier.

• Accept that discomfort is part of learning – The moments when you feel least confident are often the moments when you are learning the most. Becoming aware of what you don’t know is a necessary step towards improvement.
• Don’t mistake uncertainty and inexperience for failure – They are signs that you are learning, developing and becoming a better manager.
• Ask for feedback and be open to hearing it – You cannot always see your own blind spots. Ask your team for feedback. The goal is not to find out whether you are a “good” or “bad” manager, but to understand what is working and what you can improve.
• Take time to reflect – Management gives you a constant supply of learning opportunities. A difficult conversation, a team conflict or a decision that didn’t go as planned can all teach you something. Ask yourself  * What went well? * What could I have done differently?  * What will I try next time?

Key takeaways for new managers

Becoming an effective manager is a journey, not an overnight transformation. A promotion gives you the responsibility of managing people, but it does not automatically give you all the skills and confidence you need.

Keep these things in mind:

• You are not expected to know everything immediately. Management is a new skill set, and every manager has to learn it.
• Feeling uncertain is part of the process. The moment you recognise what you need to improve is not a sign of failure—it is the beginning of development.
• Your previous success is still valuable, but the way you succeed has changed. The skills that made you a great individual contributor provide a foundation, but managing others requires new approaches.
• Confidence comes from experience. It grows through practice, reflection, feedback and trying again.
• There is no shortcut to becoming a great manager. The best managers continue to learn, adapt and develop throughout their careers.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Read more about the model (this article suggests a fifth stage and has a matrix to clarify the four stages). And finally, a few blog posts you might be interested in:

• Dealing with change
• Action-Centred Leadership: A Practical Exercise to Find Your Leadership Balance
• Managing high performers – the Miles Davis way