As a newly promoted leader in your own company, you have to reset relationships that used to run between equals. It works best with open one-on-ones and an honest conversation about the new role. If you spend the first weeks only proving your competence, you can easily lose the team's trust.
In February 2023, Forbes asked 13 members of its Coaches Council how newly promoted leaders can manage these changing relationships. I was one of them. Here are the 13 ideas in my own words, read with one situation in mind: Yesterday a colleague, today the boss.
Make time for the relationships that are shifting right now. Talk about the new role in one-on-ones and listen to people's concerns about it. Then share what leadership looks like to you in this role and walk them through your 90-day plan.
Check in often and ask for feedback, so you notice early where things start to rub.
Source: Sohee Jun, S.J. Consulting, LLC.
Show your people that you're open and that you care about their development. Book time with each person on their own: What are they especially good at, and what do they want from you as a leader? Prepared questions plus a short questionnaire on what drives their engagement turn the slot into a real conversation.
Source: Cheri Rainey, Rainey Leadership Learning.
Two things count. First, get to know everyone on the team, starting with your direct reports, your key performers and the people with influence. Next, say clearly what you stand for, what you expect, what isn't up for negotiation and what the team can count on from you.
That saves a lot of second-guessing. And listen closely, including to what goes unsaid.
Source: DN Prasad, GovTech, Singapore.
The first reflex after a promotion is to prove to everyone that you can do the job. Showing competence still matters, and the people on your team deserve just as much of your time. Ask what someone is brilliant at and what drives them up the wall. Leaders who do that make the biggest impact.
Source: Cindy Lamir, Impact Business Coaches.
Watch how your working relationships are changing, and shape them actively. That means open communication, showing appreciation, clear goals and expectations, good collaboration and a real willingness to take feedback.
Source: Jonathan H. Westover, Human Capital Innovations, LLC.
From day one, build both: The professional and the personal relationship with your team. Find out what drives people in their current role and where they want to go next. Regular conversations about their goals and achievements, once a quarter at the very least, pay off for the whole team over time.
Source: Bryan Powell, Executive Coaching Space.
Communicate openly and clearly with your team. In practice: Be specific about your expectations and goals, stay approachable, and really listen to feedback and concerns. An open, honest dialogue builds trust, and that trust carries a positive, productive working environment.
After an internal promotion, one point comes on top: Raise the new division of roles yourself, before it gets settled by the coffee machine.
Source: Cristian Hofmann, Empowering Executives, SUPERGROUP AG. My contribution to the panel.
The hardest part of leading former colleagues is handling what goes on between people. Any leadership role is about helping others work better. What you know about your colleagues, their work and the trust you've built over the years gives you a head start that an external hire still has to earn.
Source: Michele Cohen, Lead to Growth Coaching.
Leaders who have a realistic sense of their own limits and abilities find it easier to handle the job and still have energy for their relationships. If you don't know your physical and mental capacity, stress can overwhelm you, and the people around you feel it.
Source: Gamini Hewawasam, ManoLead NFP.
Taking over a team is as exciting as it is frightening. The first steps are about building trust and earning legitimacy. For that, a newly promoted leader needs self-awareness and self-management: Those who work on both ask more, listen, observe and adapt their behaviour to the context and the priorities. Then the team works with them.
Source: Krumma Jónsdóttir, Positive Performances.
Meet as many stakeholders as you can. Find out what matters to them and what it would take to turn them into allies. Sum up the feedback, then agree with your own manager on the mission of your role and what success looks like.
Source: Claire Chandler, Talent Boost.
Success in the new role depends on how you motivate others and stay connected with them. Many new leaders look forward to their chance to prove themselves, then learn that influence runs through other people. Get to know the terrain, build relationships, clarify expectations and create early wins with both people and the business.
That's how you build your leadership reputation, meaning the way you want people to experience you.
Source: Jodie Charlop, Exceleration Partners.
Active listening is one of the basic pillars for establishing yourself as a leader with your team. Stay in regular contact so you understand what each person needs and where they still have room to grow. That way you get the best out of everyone, and the team sees you as its leader.
Source: José Luís González Rodriguez, ActionCOACH.
Most of the 13 ideas come down to conversations: One-on-ones, listening tours, quarterly check-ins, plain words about expectations. As a newly promoted leader inside your own company, you start with an advantage and a risk at the same time. You know the people, and they know you, old jokes and alliances included.
In my coaching work I often see that the friendship with yesterday's colleague is what needs the most clarity. Leave it unspoken, and the team experiences the new boss either as a mate with no authority or as someone who's suddenly keeping their distance. How to get ready before you step into a developmental role is a separate topic. This one is about the months after.
Even a newly promoted leader who goes all in on openness will hit a limit. If someone on the team was hoping for the job themselves, even the most honest conversation rarely resolves the disappointment within a week. Patience helps, and sometimes a clear call on who gets which responsibility.
Raise the new role early in one-on-ones and ask about concerns. What you already know about the work and the people is an advantage here. Then make clear which expectations apply from now on, including the ones that apply to you.
Conversations with as many stakeholders as possible, your own 90-day plan and a check-in with your manager on the mission and success criteria. A newly promoted leader should listen more than announce during this time.
In my experience, yes, as long as both sides talk openly about the new roles. It gets tricky with performance reviews and pay. That's where you need rules that apply equally to everyone.
When you notice that old habits from your time as a peer are slowing down your decisions, or when the team reads you differently from how you mean it. In coaching, I agree measurable goals for the first months with my clients and, on request, offer pay-for-results.
Further reading on hofmann.coach: 14 lessons for new leaders from executive coaches · 14 ways to build more meaningful professional relationships · Stakeholder management: 13 ways CEOs keep everyone in the loop
Note: This article is based on the expert panel “How Newly-Promoted Leaders Can Manage Evolving Workplace Relationships” of the Forbes Coaches Council, published on 06.02.2023. The contributions are paraphrased, and the commentary dates from October 2026.
Cristian Hofmann is an executive coach in Zurich and Schaffhausen (MAS Coaching & Supervision BSO, Forbes contributor). Over more than 20 years he has coached more than 1,500 leaders: CEOs, executive boards and leadership teams in Switzerland, with measurably agreed goals and, on request, pay-for-results. More about Cristian Hofmann.
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