A few weeks ago, I caught up with a friend who was about to start a big new role at a fast-growing tech company. The kind where everything is scaling — headcount, systems, expectations.

He was energised. “There’s a lot of potential here,” he said. “The team’s done some amazing things, but you can tell they’ve been sprinting for a while. Some things are fraying at the edges — roles aren’t clear, decisions are slowing. I already have a few ideas on how to tighten things up, and part of me just wants to get going quickly.”

Then he paused. “But I don’t want to come in too fast and throw people off. I haven’t earned the trust yet. How do I set the pace without breaking things?”

That tension — between the pressure to deliver and the need to understand — is where a lot of new leaders get stuck. Not because they don’t care. But because urgency can be loud, and judgment takes time.

There’s a moment every new leader faces, often quietly and alone: standing in front of a team they didn’t choose, wondering, “Where do I even start?”

But here’s the catch: how you show up in these early days will echo for months, even years. Move too fast, and you risk losing trust. Move too slow, and you risk losing credibility. Either way, missteps made now are hard to recover from.

That’s why this moment matters. Because your effectiveness — and your legacy — won’t be defined by how quickly you act, but by how wisely you adapt. 

Impulsive change can destabilize the team, undermine morale and spark pushback, making any upside short-lived. As Liane Davey writes in her piece for the Harvard Business Review:

The team’s response to your new processes or style can make you feel a little like the evil stepmother who’s stepped into their formerly happy lives.

So, how do you shape the future effectively without endangering the now? This week, let’s dig into leadership lessons for when you inherit a team, including landmines to sidestep and tactics to lean into. 

Invisible inheritance

Let’s start with some of the less obvious things you’re being handed as a new leader:

• The cultural residue of the last leader. What was rewarded? What was penalised? And what was ignored?
• People moulded by the old system. They did what worked – under someone else. And that’s what they’re used to.
• Power dynamics and micro-loyalties. There’s a social web already in place. And you’re not automatically at the centre.

What not to do

Before we get into what to do, it’s worth flagging the classic traps many new leaders fall into, especially when taking over a team in disarray. Good intentions don’t protect you from bad outcomes. A 10-year study by consulting firm Navalent found that 50% of executives who inherit a mess fail within their first 18 months on the job!

Here are six pitfalls to avoid:

1. The Clean Sweep.

Can’t wait to swap old hands for your own allies? It may feel decisive, but reshuffling the team too soon sends a message: tenure doesn’t matter and trust won’t be earned. In her piece for the Harvard Business Review, career coach Marlo Lyons warns new leaders: “Don’t confuse urgency for recklessness.” You might end up ‘fixing’ things that weren’t broken in the first place.

2. The Blame Transfer.

When you take over a team in bad shape, it’s tempting to point fingers at past leadership. This might buy you temporary sympathy, but it erodes collective ownership. Creating a chasm between ‘we’ and ‘they’ can fuel anxiety and alienate your team. Nothing fractures culture faster.

3. The Ghosts of Success Past.

Leading with stories that go “Back at my last company…” or “In my previous team…” signals that you’re still living there, not here. Every time you reference the past, you risk people shutting down and tuning out whatever you say.

4. The Amnesia Effect.

Institutional memory lives in longtime employees. When new leaders fail to honour this knowledge, they lose out on hard-won contextual insights – the kind that aren’t found in handover documents.

5. The Gut Illusion.

Leaders who rely overly on first impressions and hasty assessments risk reading their new team too narrowly. By itself, gut instinct can be an untrustworthy guide, leading to snap judgments rooted in unconscious bias. 

6. The Endless Pause.

At one end, we have leaders who walk into their new team with a sledgehammer. And at the other? Those who dawdle forever, refusing to address critical issues. Endless inertia is just as bad as lightning-fast changes – neither works. Once you’ve listened and learned, it’s time to act.

Leading an inherited team

When you inherit a team, the goal is to build bridges, not burn them. Here are eight high-impact moves to help you succeed in your new leadership role:

1. Start curious.

Lead with questions, not assumptions. Listen more, talk less. Pay attention to the dynamics and rituals of the team. Spot talent gaps and hidden strengths. Who are the quiet contributors? Who holds the cultural keys? Who has the team’s trust?

2. Get the full picture.

Instead of simply going with your gut, conduct a structured talent assessment. Boost your leadership credibility by taking an evidence-based approach. Consider a mix of one-on-ones, team meetings, stakeholder inputs, and past performance reviews. You may not choose to retain everyone, but you can certainly ensure that each team member gets a fair chance.

3. Loop in your team.

Transparency builds trust. When change is coming, let people in on how and when decisions will be made. Lay out your evaluation criteria and timeline. Early in the process, start sharing feedback and discussing future development. Give team members the opportunity to step up, embrace the shift, and evolve. Do this even for people who seem likely to exit. As Lyons wisely points out:

Even short-term allies, when treated with dignity, respect, and transparency, can become powerful advocates for your leadership and the culture you’re trying to shape.

4. Redeploy talent.

Before you start replacing people, ask yourself: are they in the right position? Some underperformance is rooted in misalignment, not lack of effort. Could repositioning certain team members, especially those with high trust and cultural capital, allow for a better fit between skill and role?

5. Make it safe to be honest.

As you initiate deeper conversations with your new team members, remember there are no shortcuts to trust. You want candour – that’s good. But don’t force vulnerability, especially in group settings. Instead, focus on fostering a sense of psychological safety, a necessary precursor to frank discussions.

6. Share your Personal User Manual.

Replace guesswork with clarity. A “how to work with me” guide explains how you like to operate, communicate and collaborate. This cheat sheet sets your team up for success by clarifying expectations and defusing potential misunderstandings. (Find my previous post on how to write your own Personal User Manual here.)

7. Say ‘we’ like you mean it.

Taking the high road may not always be easy — but it’s the best way to gain buy-in. Don’t talk about ‘they’ did in the past. Instead, switch gears to ‘we’ and ‘us’, in the here and now. Use inclusive language and frame ideas around shared objectives. If asked directly about your predecessor’s decisions, go with a version of this excellent response suggested by Ron Carucci in his Harvard Business Review article:

We can’t change what happened then, but we can change what we do going forward.

8. Co-create the future.

You were hired for your experience, but that doesn’t mean your way is the only way. Invite your team to visualise the path ahead. Define your collective mandate together. What is the team uniquely positioned to achieve? What problems are you here to solve? What will success look like? Set core criteria for future solutions. Reorient institutional knowledge for new goals.

Start strong, but start smart

The beginning sets the tone. And while you don’t need to solve every problem right away, you do need to model the kind of leader you plan to be.

So, before you rehire, reorganise or rewrite the playbook, take a breath. Read the room. Listen for legacy. Invest in relationships. Don’t flip the whole table — figure out how to set it better. As Lyons observes:

The mark of a great leader is not how quickly they act, but how wisely they decide.

Trust isn’t built overnight — it accrues in layers, not leaps. You may have earned your position fair and square, but now you need to earn your team’s respect and loyalty. And that means taking the time to listen, learn and understand before you start making sweeping changes.