And most organisations never see it coming.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
AHRI’s latest research is clear. Australian organisations are investing heavily in technical skills but falling short when it comes to developing the human ones.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yet we keep taking our best technical people, giving them a bigger desk and a round of applause, and leaving them to figure the rest out themselves.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And the same AHRI research tells us that only 15% of Australian employers plan to invest their training budgets in leadership and management development this year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So there they are. Brand new managers. Responsible for the careers, the performance, and the well-being of the people around them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Given a pat on the back and sent on their way. Sure, it’ll be grand!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sound familiar?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here is what usually happens next.<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n A gun salesperson gets promoted to sales manager.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The best engineer becomes head of engineering. The person who could always be relied upon to get the job done is now responsible for making sure everyone else does,\u00a0too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The person who never put a foot wrong is suddenly in charge of making sure nobody else does either.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Everyone waits for the magic to continue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And then it goes pear-shaped.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We call it the Promotion Trap<\/b><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The skills that made them exceptional before, drive, focus, personal accountability, and the ability to just get things done, are often the very skills that work against them as a manager.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because great management is not about focusing on yourself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is about getting the best out of the people around you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And unless they are naturally gifted people managers, most newly promoted leaders default to doing instead of leading.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They struggle to delegate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They take the work back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They micromanage without meaning to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0the team starts to disengage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Good people quietly look elsewhere.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And by the time the resignation letters arrive, the damage is already done.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is not a personal failure. It is a systemic one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We set people up to struggle and then wonder why they do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Peter Principle was written in 1969.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here we are in 2026 and the research suggests we are still living it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The good news? This is entirely avoidable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It starts with genuinely understanding who your people are before the promotion is made.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How do they think?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How do they influence?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How do they handle pressure and ambiguity?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do they understand the difference between being a leader and a manager, and can they be both?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The most effective approach starts with benchmarking your best managers to\u00a0understand what actually makes them successful.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then compare\u00a0your next potential leader against that benchmark.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Identifying the gaps honestly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And providing the right support through experienced coaching.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Remember, coaching is not teaching.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It helps your people to learn, at their own pace, in the context of their own role.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ideally, a promotion should never come as a surprise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It should be part of a deliberate process of building bench strength so that when the moment arrives,\u00a0your people step into the role with confidence, not apprehension.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A promotion should never be a reward for past performance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It should be a considered decision about future fit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Have you seen this play out in your organisation?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Where have promotions worked,\u00a0and where have they fallen short? Drop your experience in the comments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n