Insights to Evolve from Doing More to Leading Better | June 10, 2025 | Ajit Panicker

Transitioning from Manager to Leader

Last month, during a coaching session with a newly promoted senior manager, he looked at me and asked—

Ajit, what really changes when you move from managing a team to leading one?”

It’s a powerful question.
Because the truth is—your designation may change overnight, but your mindset takes time to catch up.

I’ve seen it across industries—smart professionals who were excellent at execution find themselves stuck when asked to drive direction. They’re managing tasks, tracking metrics, and pushing performance… but not yet leading. Not yet elevating.

From Task Execution to Meaning Creation

When you’re a manager, your success is defined by what gets done.
When you’re a leader, it’s defined by what gets believed.

Leaders aren’t just taskmasters—they’re storytellers of possibility. They don’t just say what needs to be done—they explain why it matters.

Ask yourself: “Do your team members show up to complete tasks, or to contribute to something larger?”

The Gallup State of the Global Workplace reports that only 15% of employees are truly engaged at work. You know why? Because no one told them why their work matters. As a leader, that’s your responsibility.

Control Is Easy. Trust Is Harder.

One of the hardest shifts I had to make in my early leadership days was letting go of control.

I was used to fixing, reviewing, solving. But I realized—I wasn’t growing leaders, I was creating followers. And followers always wait.

Leaders cultivate ownership.
They hand over the ball, and trust that others will run with it—even if they stumble.

Reflect on this:

• Do you give responsibility or do you only give tasks?
• Do you create dependency or capability?

Research from Business.com confirms that autonomy is one of the top drivers of performance and engagement. Not perks. Not salaries. Autonomy.

Strategic Thinking Begins with Stepping Back

Managers are in the weeds.
Leaders rise above the weeds to scan the landscape.

The real challenge? Making space for thinking.

Most leaders I coach have one thing in common—they’re too busy to think. And it shows. They’re reactive, not reflective. They’re solving today’s fires but blind to tomorrow’s spark.

Action Tip: Block 90 minutes a week to step away from operations and ask:

• What’s changing in our industry?
• What’s not working but we’ve stopped questioning?
• What risks are we not talking about enough?

EQ Over IQ

You don’t lead spreadsheets. You lead people.

And people don’t just need direction—they need connection.

McKinsey’s 2023 report on leadership capabilities places emotional intelligence, empathy, and self-awareness in the top three traits for effective leaders.

Your team remembers how you made them feel—not how many slides you shared.

Ask yourself:

• Do I listen or just wait to respond?
• Am I aware of how my moods ripple into the team’s energy?

Feedback as a Two-Way Street

Let me be blunt: if your feedback loop still looks like one annual appraisal form, you’re not leading—you’re managing data.

Leaders normalize feedback. They make it conversational, not confrontational.

Great leaders ask questions like:

• “What’s one thing I could do differently to support you better?”
• “What’s slowing you down that I might not see?”

By doing this, they signal humility. They invite ownership. And they build trust.

According to HBR, managers who regularly ask for feedback see 21% higher team performance than those who don’t.

The Real Difference: Identity, Not Just Activity

The truth is—both managers and leaders are important.
But the intent and impact are different.

Managers drive efficiency.
Leaders drive transformation.
Managers manage processes.
Leaders move people.

Leadership isn’t just a new role. It’s a new identity.
And it’s shaped by daily choices: Do I step in, or do I step back? Do I protect, or do I push? Do I do it myself, or build someone who can?

If you’re reading this and asking yourself, “Am I still managing more than I’m leading?”—that’s a great start.

Because self-awareness is always the first step to leadership.

So this week, do this:
Pause.
Ask your team one question you’ve never asked before.
Reflect on your own leadership moments—not just what you did, but who you became in the process.

Leadership isn’t about having the loudest voice in the room.
It’s about creating space for other voices to rise.

And that shift—from execution to elevation—is where real leaders are born.

If this resonated with you, share it with someone who’s on that journey. Let’s raise not just performance—but perspective.