💬 First time leading a team, what I got wrong

When they made me team lead I was 28 and the team was 4 people, 2 of them older than me. Week 1 I did everything myself. A report was late so I stayed till 11 PM and just wrote it. The next morning one of the older guys said, sir, you didn't need to do that. I felt stupid. He'd have done it in an hour. I never asked. I thought asking meant I couldn't manage. Delegating was worse. I'd give someone a task and then check on them every 30 minutes. A guy called Rehan finally said, if you want to do it, take it. I'll go for tea. He was joking, but I went red. I stopped checking after that. Mostly. I still looked at the screen. The work came back better than what I'd have done. That was annoying, and also a relief. What nobody told me is how much of the job is running around for other people. I spent half a day just getting a laptop approved for a new joiner. Forms, calls, 3 reminders. The team never saw that. They saw me sitting at my desk with my phone and probably thought I was relaxing. I've stopped trying to explain it. Fine, let them think that. The laptop arrived, he started on Monday. Feedback was the thing I got wrong most. I told Rehan his work was fine when it wasn't. It came out 3 weeks later in a client call and everyone looked at me, not at him. Now I say the awkward thing the same day. It still makes my stomach drop, but it's quicker. I'm 11 months in. Still learning, still late on some reports. The older guys have been decent about it.

I'd push back on one thing. Saying the awkward thing the same day isn't always right. Twice I gave feedback while I was still annoyed and it came out harsher than I meant.

I did laptop errands too, plus a visa letter and a broken AC. None of it was in my job description. Checking every 30 minutes made me laugh because I did exactly that for my first 2 months. What fixed it for me was a deadline I couldn't touch.