What happens when someone who’s never led before is now responsible for a team? It could lead them to keep the work to themselves, skipping hard conversations and managing tasks, not their people. 

This is more common in technical experts because they’ve built their careers on deep focus and independent work, and those strengths leveled up their title. But according to the Chartered Management Institute, 82% of new managers take on management responsibilities without any formal training. And leading a team draws on a different set of skills that technical experts don’t often have the chance to build first.

What changes when a technical expert becomes a manager?

A study found that a salesperson who closed twice as many deals as the average colleague was about 14% more likely to get promoted to a management role  But teams with these high-performing employees as managers saw sales decline by 7.5%. In short, the more successful an employee was in sales, the worse they were at managing others.

We’ve seen a similar pattern with technical leaders. The habits that make them great individual contributors, like deep focus, independent problem-solving, and owning the full project of work, don't naturally transfer to managing people. It’s the case of classic accidental managers: promoted for expertise and left to figure out the people side on their own.

And when management development does come, it tends to arrive late. Leadership development firm Zenger Folkman looked at roughly 17,000 leaders in its training programs and found the average participant was 42 years old. The average supervisor at those same companies was 33, with many stepping into leadership around 30. This means that most leaders operate with little to no training for over a decade.

Why now: AI is raising the stakes for untrained managers

This gap isn't new, but AI is making it more expensive. Technical leaders are often the ones steering their teams through AI because they understand the tools best, and AI adoption depends heavily on managers. Gallup finds manager support is the strongest driver of widespread AI use, yet only 36% of employees strongly agree their manager supports their team's use of AI.

Plus, when the tools make it faster than ever to just do the work yourself instead of delegating it, it’s more tempting to skip developing your team.

What skills do technical leaders need to become effective managers?

Some might say they just aren’t born to lead. But being a strong leader comes from  specific, learnable behaviors: how a leader delegates, gives feedback, reads their team, and defines their own success.

Technical experts are good at learning complex systems, and managing people is another, which can be built deliberately in the flow of real work. These behaviors make the difference: 

  • Letting go of the keyboard. Shift from doing the work to developing the people who do it. This is an important step for someone who believes that doing it yourself is always faster in the short term.
  • Reading what people need. People feel seen when their leaders can read their needs. Is it a skill gap, motivation issue, or uncertainty about what's expected? They can look the same from the outside, but each needs a different response.
  • Giving direct feedback. Don’t shy away from important conversations. Talk about what's working and what isn't, early and specifically.
  • Communicating context, not just tasks. Explain the why behind the work and what's coming next, so people can use their own agency to make good decisions without asking.

How Aurora develops technical experts into managers

reacHIRE’s leadership development program Aurora uses behavioral activation: building specific leadership behaviors in the flow of real work, not in a one-off workshop. Leaders practice delegating, giving feedback, and communicating with their actual teams, on the challenges they're facing right now.

"Aurora encouraged me to be more proactive in my communication with my team, helping me build stronger trust and relationships. Most importantly, it prompted me to reflect on my leadership style and goals, something I had never intentionally done before." — Aurora participant

Timing matters as much as content. The best moment to develop a leader is as they step into the role, before habits set.

If you've promoted technical experts into leadership, learn more about how Aurora helps them become the managers their teams need.