[Myung Daesung's True Colors of Communication] When You Become a Team Lea...

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[Columnist Myung Dae-sung, Korea Lecturer News]

Many office workers want to become team leaders. More accurately, they believe they must become one. Promotion is often seen as recognition and the natural next step in a career. But once they actually step into the role, they find themselves facing emotions far more complicated than expected.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

It is a natural question, but a much heavier one than it seems.

Most professionals spend a great deal of time thinking, “I need to become a team leader.” Very few spend enough time asking, “What should I do once I become one?”

That is where the real difficulty begins. Becoming a team leader requires a major transition. Until yesterday, you were the colleague chatting about your boss behind closed doors. Today, you are the one expected to set direction. You laughed together, complained together, and blended naturally into the group. Then suddenly, your position changes, and so does your responsibility. Naturally, there are things you must now be more careful about.

That is when people start saying:

“You’ve changed since becoming a team leader.”

Many first-time managers fear hearing this. They feel awkward, as if relationships are becoming distant. They feel uncomfortable no longer being able to interact as casually as before. Some try too hard to remain “one of the team.” Others overcompensate by becoming overly authoritative.

Neither approach lasts.

Let me be clear: When you become a team leader, you need to change.

This does not mean changing your personality. It does not mean becoming cold, unpredictable, or overly controlling. It means that because your role has changed, your standards must change, and so must your attitude toward work. A team leader is no longer someone who simply does their own work well. A team leader is someone who makes sure the entire team performs well.

There are three things new team leaders must change first.

First, the standard for relationships must change.

It is important to have good relationships with your team members. But a team leader cannot simply be their friend. Closeness and boundaries are not the same thing. If the relationship becomes too casual, you may fail to say what must be said when it matters most. On the other hand, if you only create distance, trust disappears. A good leader is not someone who is merely easy to be around. A good leader is someone people can trust. Employees do not follow the boss who simply likes them. They follow the boss who leads them properly. Sometimes you must say uncomfortable things. Sometimes you must give clear and difficult feedback. In those moments, what matters is not likability, but trust. Be kind-but maintain boundaries. That is leadership.

Second, you must understand the work thoroughly.

One of the most dangerous misunderstandings new team leaders have is this: “Now I don’t need to handle the practical work anymore.” In reality, the opposite is true. A team leader may not execute every task personally, but they must understand the work more accurately than anyone else. You must know who is handling what, what matters most, why something is delayed, and where bottlenecks are forming. You must understand the priority of the work, its level of difficulty, the expected time required, where the Person in Charge is struggling, and how that work connects to the team’s overall performance. Only then can you support, adjust, and take responsibility. The moment a leader starts saying, “Just figure it out,” too often, the team begins to lose direction. A leader’s job is not simply to control. It is to read the flow.

Third, you must manage your team members’ careers.

This is the part many leaders overlook. People do not come to work only for a paycheck. They think about growth. They think about evaluation. They think about their future. Yet surprisingly, many leaders fail to explain how an employee’s daily work connects to the company’s evaluation system. What gets recognized? What connects to KPIs? Why does this work matter? Helping team members understand these things is one of the most important responsibilities of leadership.

Performance is not created alone. It must be made visible, and it must be connected. When employees understand the meaning behind their work, engagement follows. A good team leader is not someone who simply assigns tasks. A good team leader shows people the direction of growth. Becoming a team leader is not just about gaining authority. It is about carrying responsibility differently. The way you succeeded as a great team member will not automatically make you a great team leader.

That is why, when you become a team leader, you must change. More precisely, your perspective must change. From being good at your own work to making sure the team succeeds. That is where leadership truly begins.

Columnist Profile

Myung Daesung is a columnist and leadership expert specializing in communication, organizational culture, and workplace relationships. His work focuses on leadership, communication that moves people, the power of attitude, wise workplace life, semi-retirement strategies, and writing.

He has delivered lectures and corporate training programs for organizations such as Samsung Group, KB Securities, NH NongHyup Bank, KG Group, and Sungkyunkwan University, sharing insights on empathetic leadership and communication that bridges generations.

As a writer with over 15 years of experience, he explores human relationships and finds meaning in creating new connections through conversation. Observing people, asking deeper questions, and refining the essence of relationships into language have long been both his habit and his greatest strength.

Based on these insights, he continues to write books and also serves as the CEO of Book Hero, a publishing company with the mission of creating “words engraved in the hearts of one million people.”

His major works include The Power of Attitude That Makes Me Stronger, Harvard Discussion Class, Workplace Etiquette Matters Too, Starting Tomorrow as a Team Leader, The Art of Keeping the Right Distance, Workplace Etiquette, and Semi-Retirement Revolution. Some of his books have also been published in Thailand.

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