Jeff Ross's Linkedin Analytics

A weak manager doesn’t just cost you targets. They cost you: - Trust - Culture - Top performers The most expensive leadership decision is the one you don’t make. Stop skipping manager development and expecting senior results.

"Just keep doing what you were doing... but now you’re in charge." This is the lie that sinks new managers. Because leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about becoming more: - More emotionally available. - More curious. - More clear in how you communicate. Doing what you did before; just harder, faster, longer; is the perfect way to burn out and break trust. The job changed. You have to, too.

Most new managers try to lead through control. They check everything. Approve everything. Insert themselves into every decision. But control doesn’t scale. And control doesn’t build trust. Clarity does. Clear expectations. Clear communication. Clear accountability. The manager who learns to lead through clarity instead of control? That’s the one whose team actually thrives.

Most leaders butcher acquisitions, because they confuse culture with compliance. When I led a post-acquisition brand integration, I knew exactly what was at stake: Preserve trust. Protect what works. Guide the transition, without erasing identity. Because you’re not just merging systems. You’re managing identity. And that’s where most integrations go wrong. When Putzfrau.ch was acquired by Batgroup, I was asked to guide a strong, respected brand into a new structure, without killing what made it great. You don’t “integrate” culture like you install software. You steward it. And that takes nerve, nuance, and a lot more listening than most leaders are used to. Here’s what worked for us: ✅ Start with ears, not ego. Don’t rush to “fix” what’s already working. ✅ Clarity is oxygen. People can handle change. What breaks them is confusion. ✅ Preserve the gold. Not everything needs to be reworked. Some things need to be respected. ✅ Be present during the dip. Morale will take a hit. Ignoring it won’t make it bounce back faster. ✅ Make strategy tangible. Integration isn’t a presentation. It’s a daily reality, for real humans doing real work. I’m proud of how our teams showed up, ops leads, franchise managers, marketers, all driving this forward with clarity and care. If you're navigating a merger and want to protect more than just performance metrics, let’s talk. Because these moments shape more than org charts. They shape trust. What was your biggest challenge during a post-acquisition phase?

AI can tell you what to say. But it can’t give you the guts to say it. It can prep your feedback. But it can’t stop your hands from shaking in the moment. Confidence isn’t code. It’s built in the fire of real conversations. Leadership isn’t software. It’s you. Showing up. When it’s hard.

"I don’t have time to learn GenAI." What you’re really saying is: “I’m okay falling behind.” Because relevance doesn’t wait. And leadership doesn’t pause. 15 minutes. That’s it. You either use it to grow or watch others pass you by.

You’re not stuck. You’re just tired of learning the hard way. And here’s the fix: Start experimenting. Start failing faster. Start giving yourself 15 minutes a week to tinker, test, and try. Mid-career reinvention isn’t a pivot. It’s a practice. You don’t need more inspiration. You need a system.

AI will show you how to structure a conversation. But it won’t help you regulate your emotions while having it. It can draft your 90-day plan. But it won’t help you get buy-in from a skeptical team. It can summarize your feedback. But it can’t help you deliver it with empathy, strength, and timing. AI is the assistant. You are the leader. Let’s stop confusing the two.

Relevance isn’t a trophy you win and keep. It’s a habit. You don’t need a full rebrand to stay sharp as a leader. You need 15 minutes a week: - to learn. - to adapt. - to challenge your default settings. Relevance is daily maintenance. Not a one-time award. Are you maintaining yours?

AI can write your meeting notes. It can help you prep for your next 1:1. It can even suggest what to say in your next feedback session. But it cannot make you trustworthy. It cannot help you lead when your team’s afraid. It cannot build a culture that people want to stay in. Leadership isn’t just about speed. It’s about presence. And that’s still 100% human. Use AI to support your leadership. But don’t mistake it for the leadership itself.

Your best manager isn’t the loud one. It’s the one quietly absorbing pressure. Running interference. Picking up the pieces. Shielding the team. And burning out silently. Because high-functioning doesn’t mean low-need. And competence without support leads to collapse. Look closer: Who’s holding it together too well?

"They should know better.” No they shouldn’t. If you never trained them... If you never modeled it… If the expectations were vague… Then you don’t have a performance issue. You have a leadership clarity issue. Managers don’t rise to assumptions. They rise to systems, support, and feedback. Train it, or stop expecting it.

Your new managers don’t fail because they’re weak. They fail because you did not train them to lead humans, only tasks. So they try to prove their worth with control, not clarity. They double down on effort instead of learning to delegate. They burn out while wondering, “Why isn’t this working?” This isn’t a motivation problem. It’s a leadership preparation problem.

Trust erodes quietly. One unclear expectation. One avoided conflict. One performance convo postponed until it’s too late. Your team isn’t asking for perfection. They’re asking for presence. For someone who shows up, speaks clearly, and doesn’t disappear when it gets hard. Train that. Or keep rebuilding morale from scratch.

You got promoted. Congrats. But did you actually shift? Because here’s what no one tells new managers: You’re not being paid to "do the work" anymore. You’re being paid to think differently. To lead humans. Under pressure. With clarity. If you're still solving every problem yourself... You’re not leading. You're just firefighting with a better title. Leadership is a shift in identity. Not a new line on your resume. Have you actually made the shift? Or are you still stuck in the work?

Mocking junior staff for acting “entitled”? Cool. Just admit you skipped onboarding and called it leadership. I don’t laugh at new hires when they “ask for a raise on probation.” I ask what the hell their manager was doing. Because people don’t behave poorly in a vacuum. They behave based on the signals, systems, and silence they’re given. Let’s be honest: If someone’s showing up clueless, one of two things happened: a) They weren’t told b) Or they weren’t shown Neither of those are employee issues. They’re management gaps. 👉 You don’t get to criticize behavior you never coached. 👉 You don’t get to blame “Gen Z” when your onboarding is a PDF and a prayer. If your team looks lost, don’t grab the mic. Grab a mirror. Ever been blamed for something you were never trained on? 👇 Let’s hear the horror stories.

Most new managers aren’t underperforming. They’re undertrained. No one taught them how to lead. Just how to do the job before this one. So they default to: - Controlling everything - Avoiding conflict - Overworking to prove themselves The cost? Burnout. Turnover. Team trust down the drain. The fix? Training. Coaching. Support. Stop promoting people into leadership with hope and guesswork.