Why Great Performers Become Bad Managers (And How to Stop the Cycle)

A common request from my coaching clients: "How do I deal with a bad manager?"

Here's the uncomfortable truth: most bad managers weren't bad employees. They were often the best employees—top performers who got promoted because they hit targets, solved problems, and delivered results.

But nobody taught them that leadership is an entirely different job.

The Promotion Trap: When Your Strengths Become Your Weakness

You don't get promoted to keep doing the same work. You get promoted to think differently, lead differently, and deliver impact at a higher level.

The trap? The skills that made you exceptional as an individual contributor can actually work against you as a leader. You were rewarded for doing the work. Now you need to focus on enabling others to do the job. You were trained to execute. Now you need to strategize.

Look at Steve Nash. Hall of Fame point guard. One of the smartest players to ever touch a basketball. When he became head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, he lasted less than two seasons. Why? Coaching requires different muscles than playing. It's not about your basketball IQ—it's about developing others, managing personalities, and making decisions with incomplete information.

Contrast that with Erik Spoelstra, who never played professional basketball but became one of the NBA's elite coaches. He understood that leadership isn't about being the best player on the court. It's about making everyone else better.

What Bad Management Actually Looks Like

Bad management isn't always toxic or dramatic. Most of the time, it just looks like constant busyness with no real progress.

Here's what I see:

• Reacting instead of planning. Every day feels like a fire drill because you're not thinking ahead.

• Micromanaging because you don't trust the process. You delegate tasks but not authority, then wonder why nothing gets done right.

• Confusing activity with impact. Your calendar is packed, but your team is lost.

• Solving the same problems repeatedly. If you're having the same conversation every week, you're not managing—you're just putting out fires.

If your best people are disengaging or your team can't make decisions without you, you're managing poorly. It's not about working harder. It's about working smarter.

The Strategic Thinking Gap

Here's what separates managers who stall from leaders who scale: strategic thinking.

Strategic thinking isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking better questions. Where are we going? What really matters? What's getting in the way? What needs to change?

Most executives I work with are buried in operations. They're intelligent, capable, and exhausted. They're running hard but not moving forward. When we create space to think strategically, everything shifts. They start seeing patterns. They start challenging assumptions. They start leading with purpose instead of just reacting to whatever lands on their desk.

You don't build strategic thinking by working longer hours. You build it by stepping back from the daily grind and thinking about the bigger picture.

Executive Presence: The X-Factor

Executive presence is what makes people believe in your leadership before you say a word. It's not about being the loudest voice in the room or having all the charisma. It's about showing up with intention and making others feel confident in your direction.

Think about Derek Fisher. Great player, team captain, clutch performer. But when he became head coach of the New York Knicks, he couldn't inspire confidence. He had the resume, but he couldn't connect. His teams tuned him out because presence isn't automatic—it's a skill you develop.

When you have executive presence, people follow you not because they have to, but because they trust you. You communicate clearly, listen with empathy, and align your actions with your values.

How to Make the Transition

If you're struggling with the shift from doer to leader, here's where to start:

• Create space to think. Block time every week to step back from operations. Ask yourself: What patterns am I seeing? What assumptions need challenging? What's the long game here?

• Stop doing work your team should own. Every time you jump in to solve a problem, you're robbing someone of a growth opportunity and keeping yourself stuck in the weeds.

• Challenge your communication. Are you giving clear direction or just hoping people figure it out? Are you setting expectations or just assigning tasks?

• Get feedback on your presence. How do you come across in meetings? Do people feel confident in your leadership? You can't fix what you can't see.

• Invest in your leadership development. The most successful executives know that external perspective accelerates growth. Whether it's coaching, feedback, or structured development—invest in getting better at the leadership game.

The Bottom Line

Poor management isn't permanent, but it is expensive. It costs you talent, momentum, and opportunities. Your team feels it. Your results show it. Your career stalls because of it.

You don't want to be good—you want to be GREAT. That means recognizing that tactical excellence got you here, but it won't take you further. Leadership is learnable. Strategic thinking is buildable. Executive presence is developable.

But you have to commit to the work. You have to show up differently. You have to invest in becoming the leader your role demands, not just the high performer you've always been.

The question isn't whether you can make the transition. The question is whether you're committed to doing what it takes to lead at the level your position requires.

Your team is waiting for you to step up. What are you going to do about it?

Want to fast-track your executive development? Let's work together to identify exactly where you are now and create a personalized roadmap for where you want to go. Because generic advice gets generic results—but targeted coaching? That's where transformation happens. Set up an appointment.