Promoted but Not Prepared: The Cost of Skipping New Manager Training
Let’s get real about middle management.
Your role carries prestige, but it might not feel glamorous. Chances are, you didn’t know what you were in for when you stepped up to lead people in addition to the dynamics that come with it, but your role is critical. You’re the bridge between strategic vision and day-to-day execution. You’re a keystone to the culture built within your workplace. You’re the performance engine.
Most new managers are promoted and immediately left to fend for themselves. This lack of preparation and mentorship can have a devastating ripple effect.
- 66% of new managers receive no training at all.
- 53% don’t understand their new responsibilities.
- 40% weren’t even given a clear job description.
This isn’t just bad for business—it’s harmful to humans.
Imagine preparing for a race, finally winning, and then not cherishing the prize simply because you didn’t realize that you also had a responsibility to keep that prize polished. That’s what we’re doing when we promote people without support.
The Organizational Fallout
Without training, new managers:
- Undermine psychological safety.
- Struggle with delegation and feedback.
- Cause misalignment and burnout.
Because managers influence up to 70% of variance in team engagement (Gallup), the cost of getting it wrong is high. Turnover, disengagement, and culture erosion are often traced back to the middle.
What New Managers Really Need
- A safe space to ask questions and unlearn old habits.
- A framework to build leadership identity, not mimic others.
- Practice managing across and up—not just down.
In Cultivate Leaders – Ready to Lead, we tackle these needs head-on. Through a combination of live workshops, peer coaching, and on-demand microlearning, we help new managers do more than survive the chaos—we help them lead their teams to success.
This world (and your organization) needs intentional leaders who are willing to do the work, take the time to reflect on what works and what doesn’t, and who will step up to become equipped.
And that’s what we’re here to build.
