The Promotion Trap: 5 Ways Businesses Fail Their Future Leaders

Moving from team member to team leader is one of the most significant transitions a professional can make. But all too often, organisations underestimate what’s truly required for someone to succeed in their first management role. A new title and a shift in responsibilities aren’t enough.

At Kinetik Global, we work closely with first time managers, and the organisations that support them, to help make this transition successful. Through our experience, we’ve identified five common mistakes that companies make when promoting employees into leadership roles for the first time. These oversights can have lasting impacts, not just on the individual leader, but across teams and the broader business.

1. Neglecting the Importance of Soft Skills
When considering promotions, many organisations focus heavily on technical ability and past performance. But leadership demands a very different skill set, one that can’t always be measured by output or technical expertise alone.

🧠 Why this matters:
Soft skills, such as emotional intelligence, self-awareness, active listening, empathy, and conflict resolution, are the cornerstone of good leadership. These are the skills that help leaders manage people, not just processes. A manager who lacks these capabilities might struggle to build trust, navigate team dynamics, or respond to difficult conversations with confidence.

🚫 The risk:
When soft skills are overlooked, we often see new managers who are technically brilliant but struggle to inspire, engage, or support their teams. This can lead to high turnover, disengagement, and underperformance.

2. Promoting Before They’re Ready
It’s not uncommon for promotions to happen out of urgency. A vacancy needs filling, or someone appears to be the “natural” choice based on tenure or output.

🧩 Why this matters:
Leadership requires preparation. When someone is promoted without the necessary mindset, support, or development, they are placed in a high stakes environment without the tools to succeed. This leads to overwhelm and uncertainty, especially when expectations are high but guidance is minimal.

🚫 The risk:
Premature promotion can lead to decision fatigue, strained relationships, and performance issues, both for the new manager and their team. Worse still, a difficult first experience with leadership can discourage talented individuals from pursuing future leadership opportunities.

3. Failing to Provide Structured Leadership Training
Many first time managers are left to figure things out as they go. While learning on the job has value, leadership isn’t something that should be left entirely to chance.

📚 Why this matters:
Management brings a host of new responsibilities, from conducting performance conversations to delegating effectively and managing team dynamics. A structured leadership development program helps new managers understand what’s expected of them and how to deliver in a way that’s aligned with the organisation’s culture and goals.

🚫 The risk:
Without formal training, new leaders are more likely to adopt ineffective habits or mimic what they’ve seen from previous managers, for better or worse. They may avoid giving feedback, shy away from difficult conversations, or manage in a way that doesn’t support team growth or performance.

4. Overlooking Alignment with Organisational Values
When promoting someone into leadership, it’s not just about ability, it’s also about alignment. A new manager’s personal values and behaviours should reflect the values of the organisation.

💡 Why this matters:
Leaders shape culture. Their actions, language, and priorities signal what is acceptable and what is not. When a manager’s personal values don’t align with the company’s, it creates tension, both for the individual and for the team.

🚫 The risk:
Misalignment can result in inconsistent decision making, confusion about expectations, and a breakdown in team cohesion. Over time, this can erode trust, impact morale, and undermine efforts to build a unified organisational culture.

5. Providing Little or No Ongoing Support
Leadership isn’t a one time lesson. It’s a journey of continual growth, feedback, and adaptation. But too often, once someone is promoted, the support stops.

🧭 Why this matters:
First time managers are navigating unfamiliar territory, and the landscape is constantly shifting. Whether it’s managing hybrid teams, leading through change, or engaging a multigenerational workforce, new challenges continue to emerge. Coaching, mentorship, and regular check-ins provide an essential foundation for growth.

🚫 The risk:
Without ongoing support, new leaders are more likely to burn out, become disengaged, or develop reactive, short term leadership habits. They may also feel isolated, particularly if they’ve been promoted from within their own team and are now navigating peer-to-leader relationships.

So, What’s the Alternative?

It doesn’t have to be this way.

When organisations take a thoughtful, intentional approach to leadership development, the results are profound. Supporting first time managers with the right preparation, training, and mentorship enables them to:

✅ Work more cohesively with their team and colleagues
✅ Create lasting relationships based on mutual trust and respect
✅ Navigate challenges in a more effective manner
✅ Build confidence and grow their influence over time
✅ Foster a team culture that reflects the organisation’s values

Promoting someone into leadership is an investment, and when done well, it can become one of the most impactful decisions an organisation makes. By avoiding these five mistakes and offering structured, ongoing development, you give new leaders the chance to thrive, and take your teams with them.

At Kinetik Global, we specialise in helping organisations build confident, connected, and capable first time leaders. If you're ready to set your new managers up for success, we’d love to show you how.