Coaching with Purpose. Win Big. Newsletter #9
The biggest leadership gap in most organizations isn’t vision or strategy.
It’s the jump from individual contributor to manager.
Welcome back to Coaching with Purpose. Win Big. If you’re new here, this is where I share my real-world playbook for building high-performing sales teams. All grounded in strategy, powered by people, and executed with purpose.
This edition is all about where leadership really starts. In the field, with your frontline managers. Because promoting your best seller is easy. Helping them become a great leader? That’s where most companies drop the ball. And that’s what I want to help you fix.
High-performing employees get promoted, but they’re often handed a title without tools. No playbook. No coaching. No support. Just pressure to produce through others instead of doing it all themselves.
That’s when things start to break.
I’ve coached dozens of new managers and supported senior leaders through this exact challenge. And I’ve learned this:
If we want leadership to scale, we can’t just promote it. We have to build it.
Here are six common mistakes new managers make and how you can coach them through each one.
1. Setting vague expectations
I once worked with a manager who assumed his team understood their goals because he mentioned them in a Monday email. Two weeks later, results were down and everyone was moving in different directions. Productivity wasn’t the issue. Alignment was.
What to coach
- Use SMART goals. Replace “Sell more this month” with “Increase broadband upgrades by 15 percent by October 31”
- Build a shared priority tracker in a tool like Notion or Excel so the team knows what matters
- During 1:1s, ask reps to walk through their top three priorities in their own words. Confirm and clarify. Focus on behaviors.
- Review goals weekly and update status visibly. Expectations should live in a system, not a sentence
For senior leaders
- Audit your new managers’ team scorecards and planning tools. If nothing is documented, they’re flying blind
- Provide editable templates for 30-60-90 day plans, weekly goal reviews, and coaching trackers
- Role-play setting expectations in your skip-levels. Give live feedback. Show what “clarity” sounds like
2. Avoiding tough conversations
Most new managers fear feedback will damage relationships. The opposite is true. Avoiding accountability creates confusion and resentment. Teams want to know where they stand.
What to coach
- Use this framework: Behavior, Impact, Ask. Example: “When you were 20 minutes late, it delayed the customer demo. Can we agree on a better plan moving forward”
- Schedule weekly 1:1s with an open coaching agenda. Make feedback part of the rhythm, not a special event
- Document performance conversations. Keep simple bullet notes for consistency and follow-up
- Practice. Have your new manager rehearse feedback out loud with you first. Help them adjust tone and language
For senior leaders
- Sit in on a live coaching conversation. Observe, don’t interrupt. Debrief immediately after
- Share your own “missed feedback” stories to normalize the discomfort and build confidence
- Track whether managers are closing feedback loops. If the same issue shows up twice, they likely skipped the follow-up
3. Micromanaging
Micromanagement usually starts with good intent. But over time it breaks trust, kills motivation, and burns out the manager. When leaders try to own everything, the team owns nothing.
What to coach
- Teach the delegation ladder: tell, teach, try, trust. Move team members up as they show readiness
- Set outcome-based expectations. Say “Deliver a presentation by Friday that outlines three options for customer outreach” instead of “Use this exact slide deck”
- Use check-in milestones, not constant pings. Example: “Send me a quick update Wednesday before noon”
- After tasks are complete, debrief. Ask what worked and what they’d do differently next time. Build autonomy
For senior leaders
- Review where managers are spending their time. If they’re still in the weeds daily, something’s stuck
- Ask weekly, “What’s one thing you delegated this week” If they can’t answer, they’re not scaling
- Reward visible delegation. Publicly recognize when managers let go and their teams deliver strong results
4. Taking credit
Even unintentional self-promotion can crush morale. Managers who report team wins as personal achievements may think they’re being proactive, but it erodes trust.
What to coach
- Use “we” in team updates. Better to say “Ashley led the project” rather than “I launched the initiative”
- Rotate meeting ownership. Let team members present results in leadership meetings
- Keep a win log. Each week, have managers submit one team member who should be recognized and why
- Share recognition publicly in Slack, email, or standups. Specific praise builds motivation and visibility
For senior leaders
- Watch how your managers present team outcomes. If it centers on them, coach them to shift the spotlight
- Build recognition KPIs into leadership evaluations. Ask, “How are you growing visibility for your team”
- Celebrate managers who uplift others. Recognition is contagious when modeled from the top
5. Not delegating
I’ve made this mistake myself. Early in my career, I thought doing everything myself was faster. It was, for about a month. Then it broke me and my team’s growth stalled.
What to coach
- Start with low-risk, high-frequency tasks: daily reports, agenda prep, follow-ups
- Pair delegation with skill development. Example: “You’ll lead the meeting, and I’ll give you feedback after”
- Use a simple tracker: Task, Owner, Support Needed, Due Date
- Reinforce success. When something goes well, don’t just say “Thanks” say why it worked and what it unlocked
For senior leaders
- Review task allocation. If your manager is still owning what their team could do, coach through it
- Ask, “What’s still on your plate that someone else could own by next month”
- Include delegation in development plans. Frame it as a leadership skill, not a time saver
6. Delaying decisions
Decision paralysis is a culture killer. When leaders hesitate, they signal uncertainty and teams stall while waiting. Especially in sales and ops, speed matters.
What to coach
- Use the 70 percent rule. If you have 70 percent of the info and risk is low, make the call
- Break big decisions into small ones. What can we test this week to learn fast
- Set decision deadlines. Saying “We’ll decide by Friday” forces action
- Reframe mistakes as experiments. “This didn’t work” is data, not failure
For senior leaders
- Don’t punish imperfect decisions. Reward clarity and follow-through
- Ask in reviews, “What tough call did you make this quarter What did you learn from it”
- Share how you’ve used fast decisions to drive momentum. Make decisiveness a leadership value, not a gamble
Leadership is a learned skill. Coaching is the accelerant.
New managers don’t need more pressure. They need more preparation.
They need support systems that teach them how to lead, not just manage. That coach them through challenges. That help them build trust, execution, and results from day one.
If you want a culture of consistent leadership and performance, invest in the people building your teams.
It doesn’t start with a promotion.
It starts with how you coach the ones you’ve already promoted.
Let’s Connect
Visit www.ericboettner.com or follow me on LinkedIn.
Driving Sales Growth at the Intersection of People, Process, Performance | Sales Enablement & Execution Expert | Strategic Operator | Servant Leader | 20+ Years Scaling Teams, Systems & Results
I build sales engines by connecting strategy, enablement, and coaching to drive measurable growth and stronger teams. That includes delivering 62 percent year-over-year growth across a 450-person team and leading enablement programs that supported over 700 locations.
I make complex ideas practical, build coaching cultures focused on behaviors over outcomes, and design scalable enablement systems that align people, process, and performance. The result is execution with clarity, consistency, and accountability.
𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁
Open to conversations and leadership opportunities where enablement, coaching, and operational clarity can drive measurable growth.
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