The Leader Mindset #8

Table of Contents

• Is Leadership Right For You? What New Leaders Wish …

• Free Resouces

  • Leadership Readiness Checklist

Is Leadership Right For You? What New Leaders Wish They Were Told.

Leadership is a career choice everyone aspires to, right? It represents the pinnacle of success, the natural next step, and the position where you can call the shots and drive the strategy. From the outside, it looks easy, but if you have led people, you know this is not the case.

Unfortunately, leading people is not for everyone, and I wish we would acknowledge this.

Let me give you an example. Over the years, I’ve worked with many incredible, life-affirming nurses. Some of the very best were promoted into management roles. Why? Because they were the most experienced, the most technically capable, or had excelled as lead nurses.

As I began coaching conversations with them, I asked how they were enjoying their leadership roles.  Often, I would hear similar feelings of regret.

“I miss being a nurse,” they would say. “I don’t get to do what I truly love.”

When I asked what surprised them most about the job?

Definitely, the people problems!

They had no idea how much time they would spend navigating conflict, managing underperformance, and dealing with the emotional toll of leading others.

Just like these nurses, many people step into their first leadership role only to find themselves overwhelmed, disillusioned, or frustrated. They wonder why something that supposed to be so rewarding feels so… hard.

If you aspire to lead, this article isn’t meant to scare you off. It’s meant to bring clarity. These are the things I’ve seen consistently catch new leaders by surprise. Whether you're considering a leadership role yourself or supporting someone who is, I hope this serves as a realistic job preview and challenges any preconceived notions about what leadership really involves.

1. What Made You Successful Before May Not Anymore

This is the biggest shock for many first-time leaders. Most leaders are promoted because they were high performers. Most likely, they were the go-to technical expert who always figures things out or gets the job done.

However, this is no longer true when leaping into leadership. Your job shifts from doing the technical work to enabling others to do the work. That means stepping back, letting go, and resisting the urge to be the hero. If making this life-altering change feels like torture, then leadership may not be the right path.

If you can make the jump, know it can feel disorienting. You may feel like you’re no longer doing the thing that made you valuable. That’s okay. Your value is changing. Leadership requires a whole new set of skills. 

2. People Are Complicated, and it WILL Be Frustrating

A great friend once said, “Leading would be easy if people weren’t involved.” This could not be more true.

People are vexing. They have different motivations, communication styles, personalities, and expectations. What motivates one person will demotivate another. What one person finds clear, another will interpret it as vague. Add in personal stress, team dynamics, and the general messiness of being human, and you’ve got a job that will test your patience regularly.

You’ll find yourself dealing with conflict and navigating misunderstandings while balancing empathy with accountability. It’s not easy. But it’s also the heart of the work. For some, just the thought of this work sends shivers down their spine. For others, this is exciting and a challenge worthy of investment. Regardless of your decision, people issues are part of the role.

3. Leadership Is Lonely

This one hits harder than people expect.

Your relationships shift when you move from being a peer to being a leader. The people you used to vent with are now looking to you for guidance. You may feel like you have fewer people to confide in. You’ll have to make decisions that won’t make everyone happy. Some will be unpopular or misunderstood.

That’s the weight of leadership. It requires courage. The courage to do what’s right, even when it’s hard. The courage to stand alone sometimes. The courage to have hard conversations with people you care about.

If you expect everyone always to like you, leadership will break you down emotionally.

4. You Won’t Have All the Answers

Many new leaders were promoted because they were excellent problem-solvers. They were the person everyone turned to when things got tough. But leadership brings a whole new level of complexity.

 You’ll be faced with situations where there isn’t a clear answer, you don’t have all the data, and you are constantly being pulled in opposite directions.

In those moments, your job is not to know everything. It’s to stay calm, ask good questions, gather diverse perspectives, and make the best possible decision with the information you have.  Leveraging the wisdom of your team instead of thinking you need to be the smartest person in the room is the right thing to do. This can feel very uncomfortable to someone who was recognized for having the solutions to their previous technical role.

5. You Must Genuinely Care About People

This one is non-negotiable. If you don’t care about people, not just what they can do for you, but who they are, leadership is going to feel like a slog.

I ask individuals considering leadership one simple but important question: Do you care about people’s hopes, dreams, motivations, fears, career interests, family situations, and overall well-being? 

If you choose to lead, your care for others must be authentic. People can sense when it's not.

When you genuinely care, you’ll take the time to coach, give feedback with compassion, celebrate wins, and support people when they’re struggling. These actions are not seen as time-wasters but are viewed as essential investments. That’s what creates strong teams and cultures.

So, Is Leadership Right for You?

If after reviewing these five challenges, the answer is no, then leadership might not be your path. And that’s okay. Not everyone needs to lead people to have an amazing career. There are other ways to grow and make an impact.

If, after reading this article, your answer is still yes – leadership is for me, know that leadership is an incredible opportunity. It can be deeply fulfilling. It’s a chance to shape people’s experiences and create meaningful impact.

But it’s not easy.

Leadership will challenge you, stretch you, and sometimes exhaust you. But if you’re willing to grow through it, it can also transform you. That transformation is worth every bit of the discomfort.

Thinking about leadership for your career or do you have someone on your team looking to take the leap? Use the free Leadership Readiness Checklist (included below) to deepen the reflection.

Free Resouces

Leadership Readiness Checklist

I included a free Leadership Readiness Checklist that can help identify if leadership is a good career choice. Feel free to share the checklist along with this article to individuals considering a career in leadership.

If you found this information helpful, let’s stay connected:

I appreciate you reading my newsletter. I look forward to seeing you again next week.

Andy