What I Learned About Leadership After Managing My First Team in a High-Pressure Work Environment
Introduction Stepping into a leadership role for the first time can feel both exciting and terrifying. When I was given the opportunity to manage a team during a particularly high-pressure project at work, I had no idea what was coming. Deadlines were tight, expectations were high, and every decision I made carried weight. While it was challenging, it turned out to be one of the most transformative experiences of my professional life. Here are the key leadership lessons I learned along the way. 1. Communication Is Everything I quickly realized that assuming people “just know” what to do leads to confusion and mistakes. Clear, consistent communication—whether through daily check-ins, shared documents, or informal chats—made a huge difference in how aligned and motivated the team felt. Overcommunicating isn’t annoying in high-pressure situations—it’s essential. 2. Trust Your Team, Not Just Yourself In the beginning, I made the mistake of micromanaging, thinking I had to over...