1. Be willing to be wrong a lot and admit it
2. Show vulnerablility
3. Deal with constant setbacks and disappoinment
Most people get the reigns and are suprised to find out its actually a thing nobody wants. Like being a social worker.
We are in for a rude awakening to find the opposite :). There was a brilliant hardward business review article on what managers learn in their first year - if you read it and acknowledge some of those challenges / aspects on day 1, it'll put you far ahead of your fellow first-time managers:
https://hbr.org/2007/01/becoming-the-boss
(sadly, I read that article in my year two of techie-who-became-a-manager :)
The most succinct managerial advice I have heard comes down to (a) the CEO has a strategic plan for the org for which your team has a role (b) in this role what is your team supposed to accomplish and within what constraints (c) if your team can’t do it figure out what needs to change so you can (d) if your team is making progress, learn what are the drivers and blockers so you talk intelligently if there is a change in timing or scope (e) talk with your peers and ask how are their teams doing?
2. Show vulnerablility
3. Deal with constant setbacks and disappoinment
This. It takes balls to take the hit for the team and to admit when something goes wrong. Often that means nuking your own promotion or looking worse to your own boss.
Most first level managers are just not ready to stop playing that promotion game themselves. And in their quest for their own promotion, they impose too much burden on the team.
The literal filter for hiring a manager should be "You might not get any promotion for 10 years. Are you still interested in this job?"