Why Great ICs don’t always make Great Leaders

One of the most common challenges I see is the promotion of individual contributors (ICs) into management positions. This usually happens because:

They were exceptional at their current job, or
They’re looking for career progression and there’s no alternative clear path forward.

This is a challenge that occurs across all stages of business – whether you’re just getting started, scaling an established company, or backfilling a recently vacated role.

The issue is that the skills that make someone successful as an individual contributor aren’t the same skills that will make them successful as a manager.

Understanding the Shift

An individual contributor (IC) is responsible for executing their own work. There may be others completing this work as well, meaning that, in their absence (vacation, illness, leave), the work is redistributed.

A manager is responsible for directing and overseeing the work of others. They may still be hands-on (a functional manager) or they may focus on people leadership (people manager) – they may also be responsible for both “player/coach or coach/player” depending on where the emphasis is placed. Managers may partake in strategy setting, and are responsible for quality, timelines, training and development, feedback, actioning difficult decisions, and aligning their team’s work to the broader business goals.

Why this happens

The IC-to-manager promotion usually comes from a good place – wanting to recognize high performers, provide career growth, and retain talent. It also demonstrates the commitment to promote from within. This can occur when:

Business growth means needing a new manager role so they promote the current person and backfill the IC role.
An employee wants growth, and without an IC growth path or need, the only growth “available” is into management.
An employee outgrows their current role, and in an effort to retain them, they are given a new manager title; however, when the team eventually grows, the person is expected to transition from functional manager to people manager.

I want to be clear, promoting from within isn’t the issue. The issue occurs when these promotions are done without clarity and intention.

Before promoting someone from IC to manager, it’s important to have an honest discussion with the employee to help them understand the difference in responsibilities and expectations, and ensure they want that – and not just because of the title, status, pay, or because that type of growth is expected.

What you can do

Here’s how you can take a proactive, people-first approach to growth and leadership development – and avoid setting your top ICs up for failure as a manager.

Start with the expectation that your employees want career growth (usually – check out this blog about the types of performers) and design your organizational structure with future growth in mind.
- Map out when an IC becomes a functional manager, and when a people manager is needed.
- Forecast your team structure – at what point do you look to add headcount, and what do those reporting lines look like?
Build dual career paths, where you can. Create clear, documented growth options for both ICs and managers. Not every high performer wants to manage people – and they shouldn’t have to in order to see career progression.
As hard as this may be, a great exercise is to remove the people’s names, and, instead focus on the work – get clear on the work, then see if your current people fit those business needs.
Implement the practice of posting internal positions, instead of defaulting to an appointed promotion. This 1) supports internal equity, and 2) allows employees to choose to voice their interest in new positions.
Clarify expectations and provide support. When looking to promote from within, have transparent conversations about what’s expected and provide additional training and support to those stepping into a management role.
Be honest with yourself regarding what your business needs are – you may want to look at this blog post about when you can’t pay more.

People-First Strategy

Promoting strong ICs into management roles can and does work, but when it doesn’t, the cost can be high in the form of disengagement, underperformance, and sometimes the loss of a previously high-performing employee.

This is avoidable. With intentional career paths, a transparent process, and upfront conversations, your can set your team and your business up for sustainable, people-centered growth.

Ready to Lead with Confidence and Clarity?

If you’re a founder, business owner, or leader navigating the complexities of growing your team, you don’t have to do it alone, or start from scratch.

People Partnerships provides grounded, strategic HR support that grows with your business:

The Hiring Playbook, available now, and the upcoming People Playbook – are digital toolkits to help you build clear, scalable foundations for hiring, employee experience, and HR processes.
The Growth Partnership is a three-month cohort of advisory support for scaling teams and increasing your confidence as a leader.
The Strategic Partnership offers custom HR strategy and leadership consulting tailored to your long-term business goals.