Xin Li

The jump from individual contributor to manager is the hardest transition most people never see coming. You were good at your job — that's why you got promoted. But leadership isn't a reward for individual performance. It's a completely different skill set, and almost nobody teaches it to you before you're already in the role, expected to have figured it out. I made that transition fast — moving from individual contributor roles across Ericsson, McKinsey, and M&A into a VP role leading a global team of 20 before most of my peers had their first direct report. I've also built and assessed leaders across multiple industries, geographies, and cultures, and I know how leadership potential is evaluated at the McKinsey level and inside global corporations — which means I understand what separates the managers who plateau from the ones who keep climbing. I coach first-time managers on the mindset shifts that actually matter: how to build authority without relying on title, how to lead people who are different from you, how to stop doing and start enabling, and how to make yourself visible as leadership material — not just a good manager of a small team. If you've just stepped into your first leadership role — or you're about to — and you want to make that transition deliberately rather than through trial and error, this is where I can help.