The Hard Truth About My Management Journey
When I first stepped into management, I thought my psychology background would give me an edge. I had been working for over a decade (for different managers), so I felt confident I could figure it out as I went along. Like most new managers, I relied heavily on my intuition and did what I thought I needed to do.
I was wrong.
Those early months taught me some hard lessons. I made decisions based on incomplete information, avoided difficult conversations I should have had immediately, and missed opportunities to truly develop my team. What I basically was doing is keeping everyone happy, not rocking the boat too much. I thought being a good person with good intentions would naturally translate into good leadership. It doesn't.
I later realised that Leadership was a skill I needed to develop and one that would take a lifetime to perfect. What would have helped was some clear guidance on what I could do on a daily basis and watch the change happen. That's what I do when coaching leadership skills with my clients at Sun Dog Consulting. They need someone or something to force them out of their comfort zone on a regular basis, to practice the behaviours that distinguish great leaders from well-meaning managers.
People Don't Want to Be Managed, They Want to Be Led
As Simon Sinek says, "Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge." This distinction became crystal clear through my own experience and observations.
Management is about processes, systems, and control. Leadership is about people, growth, and inspiration. Real leadership means that others willingly follow you; not because they have to, not because they are paid to, but because they want to.
It's Not Rocket Science (And That's the Point)
Here's what I've learned after years of studying both the psychology of leadership and experiencing it firsthand: There is no great revelation or secret trick to becoming a good leader.
Leadership isn't about discovering some hidden formula or having a personality transplant. It's simpler than that, but also harder.
There are specific behaviours that show up consistently in good leaders and are notably absent in poor ones. If you don't want to be a bad leader, you need to start doing these things, or continue doing them if you're already on the right track.
The gap between knowing what good leadership looks like and actually practicing it daily is where most managers get stuck.
The Communication Blind Spot
If you ask managers, they will rarely say that there is a problem with the communication. The general answer is "My door is always open, they can come to me anytime."
Yes, having an open-door policy is good. But is that really the communication we want as leaders? What about:
- Proactive check-ins instead of waiting for problems to surface
- Clear expectation setting so team members know exactly what success looks like
- Context sharing so people understand the "why" behind decisions
Most managers think they communicate well because they're accessible. Great leaders communicate well because they're intentional about it.
Why the Lead12 Challenge Works
Leadership development fails when it stays theoretical. We attend workshops, read books, and nod along with great advice, but then return to our daily routines unchanged.
The Lead12 Challenge works because it encourages you to practice. Each week presents a specific, actionable challenge to complete in your actual work environment, with your real team, facing genuine situations. The rest of your managers are doing the same and you can share experiences (good and bad).
It's not about perfection. It's about building the muscle memory of leadership through consistent, progressive practice.
After 12 weeks, you won't just know what good leadership looks like, you'll be doing it.
Twenty years of watching the knowing–doing gap.
I'm Christoph Van Aerschot — a Belgian-born, Australia-based organisational psychologist. I studied psychology rather than economics because I was always more fascinated by the people inside organisations than by the organisations themselves. I chose organisational psychology because it let me bring both worlds together.
I spent twenty years in human resources, steering business decisions with employees front of mind. That gave me a practical understanding of how organisations really work — not the version in the strategy deck, but the messy, human reality of what happens when people try to work together under pressure.
The pattern I saw most often was the knowing–doing gap. Managers who had done the training and read the books, and still weren't doing the things they knew they should. That's what Lead12 is built for.
Today I run three businesses, each tackling a different piece of the same puzzle — how to help leaders and organisations get better at the human side of work.
Sun Dog Consulting
Leadership coaching, new leader integration, and conflict management for Australian organisations. Monthly 1:1 coaching for senior leaders, grounded in real observations and 360-degree feedback. This is where individual managers who need more than a cohort go. Check out the website.
Lead12Challenge
The programme you're on this site to learn about. Twelve weeks, twelve behaviour challenges, applied in the team managers already have.
Zero to Team
Leadership coaching for start-up founders and technical experts. You started on your own and all of a sudden their is a team around you.