The 3 Common Mistakes Leaders Make When Starting in a New Role and How to Avoid Them

Research from Forbes suggests that 40% of new leaders fail during their first 18 months1 – we can help you be on the positive side of this sobering statistic. 

This article highlights three common mistakes leaders often make in their first few months: hitting the ground running, playing small, and focusing too narrowly. By avoiding these pitfalls, leaders can navigate their new roles with confidence, establish meaningful relationships, and drive effective change.  AND it uncovers the 5 Red Flags to watch out for in your new team – what they are, why they matter and what to do next … 

If you are in your first six months in a new leadership position, whether it was an internal promotion or a change of company, this article is for you.  Read on to the end to unlock more valuable insights. 

Introduction 

Congratulations on your new role or promotion! You’ve undoubtedly put in the effort to earn this opportunity, and we’re here to help you make the most of it. 

Seventy percent of an employee’s experience is shaped by their line manager, so as a leader, you have a tremendous opportunity to influence engagement, performance, and retention. 

In this article, we’ll explore the three most common pitfalls made by senior leaders during their first few months in a new role: 

• Hitting the ground running 
• Playing small, and 
• Focusing too narrowly. 

We’ll break down the reasons behind these pitfalls, their potential impact, and how to identify them early. Most important, we’ll share practical strategies to replace these habits with more effective approaches. 

We’ll share our insight into the most common problems with team culture. These problems are particularly critical to look out for when you’re new in a leadership role. 

Finally, we’ll introduce you to the ultimate tool for ensuring success in your new role: the Culture Sprint.  

So – what are these 3 mistakes often made during the early days in a new leadership role? 

Mistake number 1: Hitting the Ground Running  

The expression ‘hit the ground running’ is used a lot, usually with positive associations.  It sounds appealing – who doesn’t want a fast start?  But what actually happens when someone tries hit the ground running?  It can be disastrous.  

Moving too fast in a new role can drive dangerous assumptions about goals, challenges and logistics.   Assumptions that can make your first attempts at delivering something valuable fall flat on its face.   

This mistake usually stems from good intentions. You want to show that you’re the right person for the job.  It can be so tempting to dive straight into action in a new role, eager to make an immediate impact and impress your colleagues. However, rushing ahead without taking the time to understand the organisation, its culture, and its stakeholders, can backfire. By moving too fast, you risk alienating colleagues, damaging relationships before they’re even established, and possibly missing the mark on what truly matters for the organisation’s success.  

So how can you tell if you’re at risk of making this mistake?  

Here are key signs to watch for as you settle into your new role:  

1. Your focus is on tasks and results over people and relationships.  
2. You’re pushing for changes before understanding why past change efforts may have failed.   
3. After 30 days, you’re not yet seeing what might be holding your team back. You’re still struggling to describe your team’s culture.  
4. Your conversations with your boss are focused on ‘what’ YOU are delivering – this is a sign you’ve jumped to individual deliverables.  Instead, can you shift focus to removing barriers your team are facing? This is where you’ll have a much bigger impact.  

How to Avoid This Mistake  

Get to know your team and key stakeholders 

Start by investing time in understanding your new colleagues, as deeply as possible. Take time in the early days to listen and build relationships. Seek out key stakeholders—both obvious and less visible influencers. Meet them, talk to them and really listen to what they have to tell you.  This will provide invaluable insight into how the organisation works and where you can make the most meaningful contributions. 

This may slow your pace a little in the first few weeks and months in your new role, and that’s intentional, it’s necessary – so you know the right time to power up and where you should apply the greatest effort to achieve the most impactful result.    

Resist the temptation to talk about yourself and your plans 

Everyone will want to know about you – you’re the shiny new person they want to meet – but as tempting as it is to talk about yourself and your plans, resist this.  

Instead, ask questions, and really listen to the answers. Give others the stage to share what life is like for them in this team and business —you’ll gain insights that you’d never get otherwise.  

Be curious about what’s working, and what isn’t – especially in relationships between your team and others who are critical to success 

Focus on what’s working, so you can reinforce it, this will build confidence as you recognise strengths in your team and the results they’re already getting  

Ask about handoffs and relationships with other functions in the business – understanding the part your team plays and the impact they have on others is crucial BEFORE you start to change anything.   

Understand your team dynamic – how do they work with each other – what drives their behaviour and decisions?  A good start here is engagement scores (if you can get them at your team level) but however good this information you can’t stop there – add the colour to your understanding – so you can understand what’s holding them back from being their very best.  

Mistake number 2: Playing it Small  

Starting a new role often brings a surge of self-doubt. Fear of failure can lead many leaders to downplay their potential and hold back from fully stepping into their new position. The inner critic, that voice that tells you you’re not good enough, hates change, so is a common companion during this phase. 

But playing it small will hold you back. Confidence is key to leading effectively, and if you let self-doubt dominate, it can restrict your ability to engage with your team, take bold actions, and drive change. Playing small not only impacts you but also limits your team’s potential. The good news is that confidence can be cultivated.    

Let’s be clear – this does not mean you turn up with the expectation of you having all the answers – or being right in your early opinions.  It’s about being curious, asking bold questions and stepping out of your team and function to meet people across the business.  

So how can you tell if you’re at risk of making this mistake?  

Here are five signs to watch for as you settle into your new role:  

1. You’re sticking to what has worked for you in the past, instead of being curious about your new context. 
2. You’re hesitant to ask questions because you feel it might expose what you don’t know. 
3. You’re more focused on avoiding mistakes than on pursuing new opportunities. 
4. You see your team taking a ‘heads-down’ approach, holding back from tricky conversations, and/or focusing on immediate work rather than exploring how they create a broader impact. 
5. There’s a voice in your head telling you to ‘keep your head down’ and not make a splash before you’re sure. 

One leader we worked with, Becks, a global leader in a technology firm, experienced this with her own distributed team.   She saw firsthand that staying within her comfort zone, and allowing her team to do the same, was creating barriers to open communication and collaboration.   

Her team was spread across different countries and mostly connected virtually, so discussions tended to stay very task-focused. By keeping the focus small, it became harder to tackle bigger goals that required real connection.  

How to Avoid This Mistake  

1. Tame Your Inner Critic 
2. Our thoughts create our feelings. 
3. Our feelings drive our behaviour.  
4. Our behaviour dictates our success. 

The first step is recognising and managing negative self-talk, which can undermine your effectiveness and impact. If your inner dialogue just before meeting a new colleague goes something like, “I’m going to embarrass myself,” or “He’ll think I’m a fake” you likely won’t appear relaxed and approachable. The good news?  Once we become aware of the inner critic, it loses most of its power.  The simple act of getting curious about what it says, and when, and why, capturing some of its language, will raise your awareness to such a degree that it will lose its power. 

Challenge your self-talk and step out of your comfort zone.    

Becks, mentioned earlier, found this incredibly valuable. She chose to be intentional about showing up fully for her team. By scheduling consistent time for reflection, she actively worked on building her confidence and the team’s confidence, and setting a strong example.   

If you are working on your self-confidence, I have a gift for you.  Elise and I have compiled the best tools and resources from decades of experience of working with people in large organisations who want to improve their confidence at work. We call it the ‘Bold as Brass Self-Coaching Playlist’ and it’s a fantastic curated list of resources, perfect for someone who is ready to invest in their learning but who doesn’t yet have budget to hire their own coach.  It can be downloaded for free via the Linktree in my Instagram bio. 

Encourage open dialogue in your team.  

On the most effective teams, peers are open with each other about what’s really going on. High trust is a prerequisite of team success. In practice, that usually needs to be cultivated – its normal for peers to operate competitively rather than supportively.  The first step in building trust is to role model openness yourself. When you share what’s really going on with you – including appropriate sharing of your challenges and what you need help with – that creates space for others to do the same.  Simply bringing the team together on a regular basis and getting everyone sharing ‘wins and worries’ can have a profound impact on levels of trust. When you are ready to take that to the next level, opening up about your inner critic, and how you work to counter it, is a powerful step in building confidence on your team.  When your team hears the surprising news that you have an inner critic, it will be profoundly helpful for them, in managing theirs.

Mistake number 3: Narrow Focus  

In the excitement of a new role, it’s easy to become absorbed in your immediate responsibilities and neglect the broader network of relationships that are crucial for success. This is especially important in matrixed organisations, where influence spans across multiple layers and departments. 

Focusing too narrowly on your direct team and tasks can limit your ability to influence the wider organisation and drive change. 

Narrow focus occurs when leaders define the boundaries of their role too tightly, failing to see the broader connections needed for success. This is a common challenge, particularly in complex, matrixed organisations, where we’ve observed many leaders inadvertently limiting their impact by concentrating solely on their immediate responsibilities.  

The “heads-down, just-my-job” mentality often stems from good intentions. Leaders want to give clear direction to their teams, avoid what they perceive as distractions, and ensure their team meets its goals. The pressure to deliver results quickly can lead them to focus exclusively on what’s directly in front of them. While understandable, this approach can become a serious pitfall in larger organisations. 

Without stepping back to understand how their work fits into the organisation’s bigger picture, leaders risk missing the point entirely. Real success in large organisations comes from the interconnected relationships that drive collective outcomes. Personality traits can also contribute to this challenge. For example, introverted leaders may naturally prefer clearly defined boundaries, making it even more critical for them to proactively seek broader connections. 

So how can you tell if you’re at risk of making this mistake? Here are five signs to watch for as you settle into your new role:  

1. Your attention is centred on tasks and deliverables instead of relationships. 
2. Your interactions are primarily limited to your own team or function. 
3. You feel tension or a lack of awareness when engaging with people from other teams or functions. 
4. You’re unsure how your work impacts other areas of the business. 
5. You struggle to see how your efforts contribute to the organisation’s larger goals. 

How to Avoid Making This Mistake: 

1. Intentionally Look Up and Out 

Connections beyond your immediate team are crucial for understanding the wider culture of the organisation. Keep an open mind and stretch your reach wide to meet the widest array of people as possible. Actively seek out cross-departmental meetings and cultivate relationships with those who can impact your objectives. 

2. Think about impact in the broadest sense 

Ask questions and show genuine curiosity about life in different parts of the business. Get as close as you can to the company’s customers and understand what shapes their experience. 

3. Be curious about your team’s inputs and hand-offs 

Understand the inputs and hand-offs involved in your team’s work. Who do they rely on, and who relies on them? How does their work impact other people internally, as well as customers or external groups?  A big clue in this comes from asking about historical failures: What went wrong?  Teams who have fallen into silos will typically revert to blaming other teams when things go wrong, or spend a lot of time defending against other’s blaming them. 

4. Be curious about the impact of org culture across the company 

Prioritise learning about team cultures across the organisation. Culture shapes communication, decision-making, and collaboration. Knowing these nuances will help you build trust and establish the foundations for sustained success. 

By avoiding these three mistakes you’ll be better equipped to navigate the early days of your new senior role; to embrace the challenges, invest in building relationships, and to take the time to grow your influence. These efforts will pay off as you lead with confidence and drive meaningful change.