A few days ago I shared some of my tips for new devs. Now I will share some tips for new leaders. The new dev tips still apply to new leaders in addition to the below tips.
1. Remember why you were made a leader - you were made a leader for a reason. Do not try to change everything about yourself now that you are in leadership. Don't like buzzwords and business-speak? Great, don't use it. Do not try to be like others. Be yourself.
2. Trust your team - if you do not trust your team you need to ask yourself why. Is it the team? Probably not. Is it you? A good possibility.
3. Trust yourself - you are in a leadership role for a reason. Trust yourself, and also be willing to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes.
4. You don't have to drink the company Kool-Aid - just because you are a leader does not mean you need to agree with everything the company says or does. You might still need to do it, but you do not need to agree with it. Improvements can come from discussions that come out of disagreements and differing opinions.
5. Be a leader, not a boss or manager - this goes with trusting your team. You are leading the team, not managing them. Developers do not need micro-management. Neither you nor they have time for it.
6. Lead by example - do not tell your team to do things just for the sake of showing you are the "boss" (I hate this word). I will never ask my team to do anything that I am not willing to do myself.
7. Embrace change - change is inevitable. It will happen with or without you. It will be better if you are there to help drive the change. Just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean it still has to be done that way. Improvement cannot come without change.
I try to follow these tips daily. I hope to have earned the trust and respect of my team. I trust that my team will do what needs to be done to get their jobs done. I hope they trust that I will always have their backs and remove any obstacles they may have in their way. I have seen too many tech leaders forget that they used to be where their team members are.