From new leader to team reset: tackling four leadership moments that matter

These moments shape how teams perform. They define how trust is built and, ultimately, how leadership is seen.

A 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer survey revealed that only 38% of UK employees trust their senior leadership. Trust in leadership is a cornerstone of a positive company culture. When employees trust their leaders, they are more likely to be engaged and committed. No matter the challenges leaders face, building transparent and trustworthy relationships with their teams is fundamental.

In this article, I look at four common challenges leaders face, from inheriting teams to building from scratch. We explore how to approach each one with clarity and purpose.

Management vs leadership: the difference

These two words are often used interchangeably. Management is about maintaining systems, overseeing processes, and completing tasks. It focuses on the short-term how. Leadership is about the why and what. Direction setting, inspiring others, and creating long-term growth. While management prioritises stability and risk mitigation, leadership thrives on innovation, influence, and driving change through people, not only process.

Challenge 1: Inheriting an existing team as a new leader

One of the earliest hurdles new leaders face is stepping into a team that’s already established. This dynamic means:

• Understanding team history and relationships
• Identifying individual strengths and development gaps
• Navigating unspoken norms
• Setting a vision and direction for the team
• Shifting expectations and improving effectiveness and impact

You need to establish early clarity around roles and expectations while building trust in the new structure. Start with individual reflection and then move into team alignment. This gives everyone a shared direction while still recognising what already exists.

Challenge 2: Leading an underperforming team

This can be particularly tough. The risks of blame, low morale, and disconnection are high. Leaders need to step in with clarity and confidence. Underperformance is often linked to unclear goals, misaligned objectives, or dysfunctional relationships.

Start by understanding what stage the team is at. Consider Tuckman’s stages of development — is the team forming, storming, norming, or stuck? It is important to understand the root causes rather than surface-level symptoms.

Using a clear framework, like the four stages of team development, helps leaders spot what the team needs and move toward progress, not just quick fixes. The benefits of leadership development here are tangible: improved communication, stronger accountability, and a realistic plan for moving forward.

In contrast to underperforming teams, some leaders face a completely different challenge: building a team from the ground up.

Challenge 3: Building a team from scratch

Starting with a blank page often seems exciting. This is until the pressure to deliver kicks in. Whether launching a new business unit or scaling fast, building the right team from the beginning matters. The 5 Rs framework gives a practical way to shape this from day one in the form of a team Purpose Charter :

1. Results: Define expected results, how these align with organisational goals and strategic objectives and how individual efforts support team objectives.
2. Roles: Define specific team member roles based on desired outcomes.
3. Responsibilities: Agree on team member responsibilities to achieve team results.
4. Relationships: Determine relationships between team members and between the team and other stakeholders.
5. Rules: Set rules about acceptable behaviour, including communication and meeting guidelines, decision-making criteria and conflict resolution.

The team Purpose Charter is a way of describing the principles of the team, how it will behave and keep itself accountable. It involves setting key goals and specific objectives in relation to:

• Setting organisational priorities
• Defining team values
• Agreeing standards

Challenge 4: Redirecting the focus of an existing team

Research highlights that when a new leader takes over, even a high-performing team becomes a new team. The transition requires:

• Honouring the past
• Clarifying that the team dynamic has changed
• Establishing a new team contract

Common challenges include legacy behaviours, resistance to change, and the need to reset expectations and vision. Sometimes it’s not about new people; it’s about a new context. Strategy changes, external forces, or internal pivots need teams to re-align fast. In this case, leaders must help teams reconnect with purpose.

When individual purpose aligns with team purpose, leadership capability is strengthened. Agility is what fuels purposeful teams to stay resilient during disruption. And the team’s ability to adapt, not only to follow orders, becomes the defining factor in their success.

Teams that succeed in shifting direction tend to have strong leadership, a clear sense of purpose, and strong mechanisms for feedback and adaptation.

Leadership development is more than performance; it’s purpose

Leaders will always have challenges, both at the start of their tenure and as their career progresses. Effective leadership is about more than managing performance. It’s about helping people connect with a shared purpose. Leadership is giving them the tools and support to succeed. This means that leadership training and leadership development isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s what makes teams, and their leaders, excel.

Whether you’re looking to develop leadership capability across your organisation or you're a new leader ready to make your mark, we’re here to help. Get in touch with our team to explore how our leadership development programmes can support your goals.