Get a mentor

If you don't have a mentor already, I strongly recommend that you think about finding one. A true mentor is tremendously useful in helping you continually learn and develop throughout your career.

Especially as a new manager, a mentor can be an invaluable source of support and guidance. This is the stage where you have more unknowns than knowns. So, it's natural that you have a larger need for extra support, as long as you consciously recognize it.

A mentor is a true coach who holds a necessary mirror up to you, by asking the tough questions. By doing so, they compel you to become much more introspective, and ultimately more insightful about yourself, and the situation or challenges you may be facing.

They can also share their own experiences, lessons, and thoughts, which gives your insight on at least one way of tackling a particular challenge. Note that it may not be the right or only way. How prescriptive they are will depend on your particular relationship with them and your needs to follow their insights. At the beginning of your transition, you are more likely to require more prescriptive guidance and general guidance overall. This will evolve as you become more experienced and confident, and when your challenges change.

In my own experience, mentorship helped me tremendously, especially through the tougher times when I had serious doubts about what I was doing. So, it's something I strongly recommend to all budding managers, as well as developers in general.

You may have heard the saying: Coaching makes you a better player. I have found this to be very true. So, as well as finding a mentor for yourself, when you are ready, you should also mentor someone else. Having a mentor and being a mentor is not in any way conflicting or mutually exclusive. You don't need to make an industry out of it. Mentoring can be a 30-minute chat over coffee every so often. The quality is what matters, as opposed to quantity.