u/ComprehensiveTwo9398

Hi! I’ve been leading a small creative team for about a year, apart from regular work duties. Organization is about 20 people. It’s going okay (got a good review), but I’m running into a lot of challenges, partly inexperience, partly perhaps personality. It’s draining my energy. Looking for advice from more experienced managers.

Questions

1. I ask things too softly and apologize too much. I notice people push back easily. How can I be clearer without being harsh?
2. I sometimes focus too much on output and lose the “human aspect” interacting with people (avoiding chitchat). Any tips to balance this better? (I know this sounds weird because of my first point...).
3. How involved should I be with juniors/mediors? how do I balance coaching vs. micro-managing?
4. I’ve trouble keeping oversight of everything my team is working on. They give updates and we use Kanban, but I still feel overwhelmed. And *is* this my role? Any tips?
5. I've noticed I struggle to build buy-in internal support. People don't want to change... Looking for tips how to approach this better?
6. My billable hours are expensive (we bill per hour), so I’m not “allowed” to execute much design work. It makes it hard to deliver quality, since my hours gets expensive FAST. How do I approach this? I also have to show my management I add enough value.
7. I think a lot about work at home. Stressed out often. Worried about the job. Any tips how I can let this go better?

I realize this might not be for me, but looking for some advice. I'l be starting a course soon. Would appreciate practical advice from people who’ve been here.