The Only Way to Learn.

Sergeant Mortellaro - My Drill Sergeant during Officers Training School

“I have already chose my officer.”
And what was he?
Forsooth, a great arithmetician...
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows...

- 'Othello', William Shakespeare

'The problem is that when we're new to something or when we're approaching intermediate skill at something, it gets dangerous. Because you need to have an awareness about how much more you could learn. There's the cataract of not being great at something that makes it difficult to know what you need to learn to get better. The only way to learn that is from other people. It's very difficult on your own.'

- Merlin Mann

When you become the boss for the first time, you're dangerous.

Lots of positional power and no experience of how to use it.

You've made lots of widgets so well that you've been put in charge of other people making widgets. They're completely different skills with only the widget in common. You're an arithmetician - full of the theory. Or maybe not even that. 

Sure - you've had lots of leadership role models:

Parents. Older siblings. School teachers. The drill sergeants in the movies.

That's not the worst of it. As Merlin Mann says, you may not know that you don't know. Or if you do, you can't show it. Your people will eat you alive. Your boss wants you to deliver from day one. You've got to be strong. Decisive even. That's what they do in the movies.

So you set about being Mum, Dad, older sister, home room teacher and Gunnery Sergeant Carter. You stop being yourself.

Your people will teach you what it takes to be a good boss. Ask them. Engage them in good decision making.

Yes it's risky. They may take advantage of you.

Which is why they won't.