From Colleague to Manager – Part 1: Deciding You're Ready: Recognizing When to Move Up
That promotion to team leader is dangling in front of you like a carrot. Your manager's hinted at it. HR's been asking about your "career aspirations." Maybe you've even been acting as unofficial mentor to newer team members.
But here's the thing, wanting the title and being ready for the responsibility are two completely different beasts.
I've seen brilliant individual contributors crash and burn in their first management roles, not because they lacked talent, but because they jumped too soon. I've also watched people stay in their comfort zones for years, missing opportunities because they didn't recognise they were already managing, they just didn't have the official badge.
So how do you know if you're genuinely ready to make the leap from colleague to manager?
What "Ready" Actually Looks Like
Forget the classic management training nonsense about "natural born leaders." That's rubbish. Ready doesn't mean you have all the answers or that you're the loudest voice in the room.
Ready means you've started thinking beyond your own to-do list. You're genuinely curious about how to make your teammates more successful. When Sarah from accounting is struggling with that monthly report, your first instinct isn't "thank god that's not my problem": it's "how can I help her figure this out?"
Ready also means you've developed what I call "helicopter vision." You can zoom out from your immediate tasks and see how different pieces of the puzzle fit together. You notice when workflow bottlenecks are causing team stress. You spot opportunities to streamline processes that others might miss.
🟪 Management is often 60% conversations you'd rather avoid. Performance issues. Conflicting priorities. Budget constraints. Difficult stakeholders. If the thought of these discussions makes you want to hide under your desk, you're not ready yet.
The Tell-Tale Signs You're Ready
Here are the indicators I look for when assessing management readiness: both in clients and in my own career journey:
You're already solving people problems. Your colleagues naturally come to you when they're stuck. Not just with technical issues, but with interpersonal conflicts, workload concerns, or career questions. You don't just give advice: you actually help them work through solutions.
You think about the bigger picture. During project meetings, you're the one asking "but how does this impact the customer?" or "what happens if we scale this across other departments?" You're not just focused on your deliverables anymore.
You can handle ambiguity without panicking. Management is messy. Priorities shift. Budgets change. Stakeholders want contradictory things. If you're someone who needs crystal-clear instructions and gets flustered when plans change, management might feel overwhelming.
You're genuinely excited about developing others. This is crucial. If you see training new hires as a tedious interruption to your "real work," management will be torture. But if you get a buzz from watching someone master a skill you taught them? That's gold.
You've learned to influence without authority. You've successfully coordinated cross-functional projects, gotten buy-in for new ideas, or resolved conflicts between teammates: all without having formal power over anyone involved.
Red Flags: When You're Not Ready Yet
Just as important as recognising readiness is acknowledging when you're not there yet. These aren't permanent disqualifiers: they're development areas to work on:
You're motivated primarily by status or money. Look, we all want better compensation and recognition. But if that's your main driver, you'll be miserable. Management is often thankless grunt work punctuated by moments of genuine satisfaction. If you're not intrinsically motivated by team success, the perks won't sustain you through the tough days.
You struggle with your own performance consistency. Management amplifies everything: including your weaknesses. If you're still figuring out how to manage your own time, priorities, and stress levels, adding team responsibility will likely overwhelm you.
You avoid conflict at all costs. Some people think being "nice" is their management superpower. Wrong. Kindness is essential, but so is accountability. If you can't give difficult feedback or make unpopular decisions when necessary, you'll create more problems than you solve.
You're running away from something rather than towards something. Maybe you're frustrated with your current role or manager. That's understandable, but it's not a good reason to become a manager yourself. You need positive motivation: a genuine desire to lead and develop others.
The Practical Readiness Assessment
Here's a framework I use with clients who are considering management roles. Work through these questions honestly:
Team Dynamics: Think about your current team. Can you identify each person's strengths, development areas, and motivators? Do you understand what makes each colleague tick? If you barely know your teammates beyond surface-level interactions, you're not ready to manage them.
Decision-Making Under Pressure: Recall recent situations where you had to make decisions with incomplete information or competing priorities. How did you handle it? Did you seek input appropriately? Could you explain your reasoning to others? Management requires constant decision-making, often with imperfect data.
Feedback Reception: How do you respond when someone challenges your ideas or points out your mistakes? If you get defensive or take criticism personally, work on this before pursuing management. You'll need thick skin and the ability to model learning from feedback.
Time Management Reality Check: Look at your current workload. Are you consistently meeting commitments? Do you have systems for prioritising and tracking tasks? Management means juggling more balls, not just different ones.
Testing the Waters
Before making the full commitment, look for opportunities to "test drive" management responsibilities:
Volunteer to lead a short-term project with cross-functional stakeholders
Mentor new team members or interns
Cover for your manager during holiday periods
Take point on process improvement initiatives
These experiences will give you genuine insight into whether you enjoy the reality of management: not just the idea of it.
The Mindset Shift
Perhaps most importantly, readiness involves a fundamental mindset shift. As an individual contributor, your success is largely in your control. You complete your tasks well and on time: job done.
⬛ As a manager, your success depends entirely on other people's performance. You might work harder than ever but see worse results because your team is struggling. Your achievements become less visible because you're enabling others to shine.
This isn't about becoming selfless or sacrificing your career progression. Good managers absolutely advance their careers. But the day-to-day satisfaction has to come from team success, not just personal accomplishments.
What's Next?
If you've worked through this assessment and genuinely believe you're ready, brilliant. That self-awareness already puts you ahead of many first-time managers.
But recognising readiness is just step one. Next week, we'll dive into the practical mechanics of actually securing that promotion: because wanting the role and getting it are two different challenges entirely.
Remember, there's no shame in deciding you're not quite ready yet. I've worked with plenty of senior individual contributors who chose to deepen their expertise rather than move into management. Both paths can be incredibly fulfilling and financially rewarding.
The key is being honest about what you actually want and what you're genuinely prepared to handle. Your future self: and your potential future team: will thank you for that honesty.