When I officially became a team lead, I thought leadership meant having all the answers, making all the decisions, and fixing every problem myself.
Spoiler: it doesn’t 😅

What actually shaped me into a better leader were the mistakes I made — the moments that forced me to slow down, reflect, and change how I work with people.

Here are six lessons that came from real missteps:

🧠 1. Trying to do everything myself

When I started leading, I thought being a “good lead” meant handling everything — planning, testing, reporting, even small fixes.
I believed my team’s success depended on my effort.

But all I did was burn myself out and slow everyone down.

✅ Lesson: Delegation is not a weakness — it’s trust.
Your team grows when they own decisions. You grow when you let them.

💬 2. Avoiding difficult conversations

There were moments when I saw issues — misalignment, low performance, missed expectations — but I stayed silent to “keep the good mood” because I haaaate complaining about the people and making them feel incorrect. But...

That silence cost more than any awkward talk ever would.

✅ Lesson: Honest feedback is care, not conflict.
Tough conversations build clarity and respect — avoiding them builds frustration.

📊 3. Measuring output, not impact

At one point, I was obsessed with numbers:
How many test cases? How many bugs? How many tickets closed?

But quantity isn’t about the quality.

✅ Lesson: A leader should measure impact, not just output.
Did our work make the product better? Did it help users? Did it reduce risk?
Those are the questions that matter.

👑 4. Thinking leadership is about titles

When I got my first “lead” title, I felt pressure to act the part — to always be the one deciding, speaking, guiding.
It took time to realize that leadership isn’t something you get promoted into.

✅ Lesson: Leadership is about influence, not position.
Anyone can lead from any seat if they inspire trust and take responsibility.

🎯 5. Overcommunicating tasks, undercommunicating vision

Early on, I talked a lot about tasks — what to do, when to do it, how to do it.
But I rarely talked about why it mattered.

✅ Lesson: Teams don’t get motivated by to-do lists — they get motivated by purpose.
When people understand the “why,” they’ll figure out the “how.”

🎉 6. Forgetting to celebrate small wins

We were always chasing the next milestone, the next release, the next sprint.
But we rarely paused to appreciate what we’d already achieved.

✅ Lesson: Celebration builds culture.
Recognizing small wins reminds the team (and yourself) that progress matters — even if it’s not perfect.

🤘 Final Thoughts

Being a leader isn’t about avoiding mistakes.
It’s about learning faster than you repeat them.

Every wrong decision, every awkward feedback session, every misjudged moment — they’re all part of your growth story.

Leadership isn’t perfection.
It’s progress, reflection, and a lot of humility.

💭 What mistake taught you the most as a leader?
Drop it in the comments and let’s learn from each other.