Manager Tools – "What To Do When You Get Promoted – Part 1"
Release Date: September 29, 2025
Hosts: Sarah (A) & Mark (B)
Episode Overview
This episode of Manager Tools kicks off a detailed two-part series focused on practical steps for managers who have just been promoted. Eschewing management theory, Sarah and Mark offer actionable guidance for navigating the transition—emphasizing both the importance of leaving your old role responsibly and setting yourself up for success in your new leadership position.
Main Discussion Points and Insights
1. Recognizing the Emotional High and Subsequent Letdown
- Transition is critical: Many new managers are so excited about their promotion that they forget to prepare for the delicate transitional period between roles.
- Potential for quick missteps: If you don't manage the transition well, you may quickly "get behind in the new role" and begin doubting your readiness (A at 01:08).
2. Six-Step Outline for Succeeding After Promotion
Sarah and Mark lay out a stepwise approach, which frames the episode's guidance:
- Leave Well
- Learn About Your New Responsibilities
- Understand Your Boss’s Cadence
- Learn About Your New Team
- Announce One-on-Ones Before You Start
- Tell Your Team How to Work With You
— (B at 02:03)
3. The Importance of Leaving Well
- Impact on legacy: How you leave your current team will be noted by executives and peers ("Executives will evaluate you based on whether or not your team runs well without you" — B at 03:28).
- Avoid a selfish departure: Don’t let excitement for your new job distract you from ensuring a smooth handover.
Actions for a Responsible Departure:
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Prepare a Transition File or Key Project Report
- Should be comprehensive; one page is usually too little (B at 03:51).
- Include an overview of team activities, current statuses, spreadsheets, links, and upcoming milestones.
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Include the Next 90-Day Plan
- List foreseeable activities, pending reports, required delegations, replacements for recurring meetings, etc. (A at 05:00).
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Share Your Calendar
- Provide a 60-day (workdays) snapshot, one page per day, to help your successor not miss important commitments (B at 05:47).
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Prepare Performance Files for Each Team Member
- These go beyond standard performance reviews. Use the Manager Tools Performance Review Template: strengths, development areas, and notes such as team dynamics, not just metrics (A at 07:16).
- Example: "Most-liked member of the team, always knows how everyone’s doing" — B at 08:17.
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Write Interim Performance Reviews
- So the next manager isn’t only evaluating based on what happened after you left—avoids the “recency effect” (B at 09:15).
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Prepare an Interim Successor Document
- Suggest a team member to be interim leader; describe strengths/weaknesses; helps your boss and may advance your team member's career (B at 11:08).
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Be Available to Your Successor
- Don’t disappear; expect follow-up questions and provide contact info (A at 12:09).
- Schedule time to debrief successor and encourage use of the resources you provide (B at 12:52).
Notable Moment:
Mark shares a story about being left in the dark as a successor:
"They didn't do this... I was like, well, I'm not going to ask you anymore. That's too bad. I thought, man, I don't ever want to work for that guy ever again."
—B at 13:10
4. The “Middleman Test”
- Golden Rule for Transitions:
- "What you want from the person whose role you’re taking, the person who’s taking your role wants from you."
- Think: What would you want to know if you were walking into this role? (B at 14:20)
5. Learning About Your New Responsibilities
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Meet Key People (before you start):
- New boss, predecessor, peers, internal/external partners, possibly internal customers or project leaders (B at 14:33).
- Schedule a first-day meeting with new direct reports as soon as your promotion is announced (B at 15:24).
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Clarify Your Goals With Your Boss:
- Be proactive; don’t wait for perfect goals.
- "Don't ding your new boss for not having exactly what you want in terms of crisp goals..." —A at 15:47
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Peer Relationship Building:
- Set up bi-weekly one-on-ones with peer managers if possible.
- "You can only ask. You can’t insist." —B at 16:49
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Gather Operational Updates from Your Predecessor:
- Projects, status, budgets, personnel reviews—reverse the process you used for your replacement (B at 16:59).
6. Understanding Your New Boss’s Cadence
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Study Organizational Rhythms:
- Find out the timing of key meetings, delegations, and cycles you’re now part of (A at 18:46).
- "It's better to know what's coming than spending your first year learning by being surprised with taskings..." —A at 18:56.
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Request Weekly One-on-Ones With Your Boss
- "If your boss says no, accept it... Another person you can’t manage is... your boss. So don’t manage up, ask, don’t demand." — A at 18:58
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Boss Update Meetings as an Alternative
- Even if not a full one-on-one, create a regular forum to update your boss and ask questions (B at 19:31).
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Know Your Boss’s Calendar
- "The first place to look for clues about the forces that are going to whipsaw you day to day in your new role is your boss's calendar." — B at 20:35
- Print out next 20–50 days; look for recurring meetings, meetings above your boss’s level, and meetings with customers who consume your team's work (A at 23:31).
- Making this a habit makes you proactive, not reactive.
Notable Quote:
"Most bosses share their calendars completely, as should you... those that don’t, probably aren’t worth working for... Think about looking for a different boss if your boss does not, or worse yet, refuses to share their calendar."
—A at 21:25
- Study Patterns in Boss’s Travel and Organizational Visits
- Anticipate when your boss will interact with your team; prepare your team with key talking points for executive visits (A at 28:08).
- Encourage direct reports to create "3 by 5 cards" with their key updates so they're ready when approached by higher-ups.
Advice for Managers:
"If [your boss] asks questions, don't lie... please let me know about the conversation you had with the boss. Did she leave happy or not? Did she ask questions about things that we're not doing as good on? Or did you hit it out of the park? I'll want to know that."
—B at 29:42
Key Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On legacy:
"Executives will evaluate you based on whether or not your team runs well without you after you. And if they go downhill, it won't be all on the manager. The new manager will be in part on you..." — B at 03:28 -
On being available after moving on:
"Make sure you've given all the proper contact information to the person who is replacing you ... in order to make sure that they're successful." — A at 12:09 -
On managing up:
"Another person you can't manage is beyond your peers, your boss. So don't manage up, ask, don't demand a one on one." — A at 18:58 -
On sharing calendars:
"Be thankful in today's world that it is possible to share calendars." — A at 22:21 -
On preparing your team for executive visits:
"Get your folks to write a 3 by 5 card of the most important things that are happening in your location or on your team..." — A at 28:19 -
On candor with senior management:
"If [your boss] asks questions, don't lie... please let me know about the conversation you had with the boss." — B at 29:42
Timestamps for Notable Segments
- Outline for Success: 02:03
- Importance of Leaving Well: 02:36-03:28
- Transition File & Project Report: 03:28-05:00
- 90-Day Plan: 05:00
- Performance Files and Reviews: 07:16-09:15
- Interim Successor & Hand-off: 11:08-12:52
- Middleman Test: 13:50-14:20
- Learning About New Role & Relationships: 14:33-16:59
- Boss’s Cadence and Calendar: 18:46-23:31
- Preparing for Boss’s Travel & Team Readiness: 28:08-30:52
Wrapping Up
This episode arms newly promoted managers with a proactive checklist, practical templates, and strategic mindset shifts—starting with responsible departures and moving toward learning organizational rhythms and building new relationships. Stay tuned for part two, where Sarah and Mark will continue their actionable advice for thriving in a new management role.