This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Daria Tsion
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.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Daria Tsion
Daria Tsion | Sciencx (2025-10-23T19:34:11+00:00) 💡 6 Mistakes That Made Me a Better Leader. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/10/23/%f0%9f%92%a1-6-mistakes-that-made-me-a-better-leader/
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