Episode
How New Managers Can Break the Cycle of Heroic Problem-Solving
- Podcast
- New Manager Conversations with Fexingo: First 90 Days, Managing Former Peers, and Leadership Basics
- Published
- Jun 15, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 585
- Processing state
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Summary
In Episode 54 of New Manager Conversations, Lucas and Luna dive into one of the most common traps new managers fall into: the urge to personally solve every team problem, especially during their first 90 days. Lucas opens with a specific example from a tech company where a first-time engineering manager spent 30 hours debugging a production issue that three senior engineers could have fixed in half the time — and how that eroded trust with his team. They discuss why 'heroic problem-solving' is often a coping mechanism for impostor syndrome, and share a three-step framework for breaking the cycle: (1) naming the pattern, (2) building a triage habit, and (3) celebrating team-led solutions. Luna contrasts this with research from Google's Project Aristotle, which found that psychological safety — not individual heroics — was the top predictor of team effectiveness. The episode closes with a practical challenge for listeners to identify one problem this week they can deflect to a direct report, and how to frame it as a development opportunity rather than a task dump. #NewManager #First90Days #Leadership #Delegation #ImpostorSyndrome #ProblemSolving #TeamTrust #PsychologicalSafety #ProjectAristotle #CareerAdvice #ManagementTips #HeroicProblemSolving #Triage #Coaching #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Careers #LeadershipBasics Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo