Ismail Coskuner I grew companies in all stages from seed to public

Managing people for the first time is challenging for everybody. I remember the first time I transitioned to a leadership and management position, it was overwhelming from many aspects. Throughout my career, I mentored many first time managers and I've seen similar themes coming up over and over again. There are a lot of mental challenges a leader should battle every day. For example, when you are used to doing individual contributor work, sometimes management responsibilities don't feel like "producing" since those tasks are not as clearly defined as turning in a report or committing a feature. The "reward" of doing work doesn't kick in within a short term and it causes a fast-track to burnout. That combined with all your team looking up to you for directions and path for their personal growth, your management chain having different expectations from the team and impostor syndrome is what breaks new managers. Then there is