01
Still doing instead of leading
You keep taking the hardest calls and fixing every problem yourself, because it is faster. Meanwhile one-on-ones get skipped and the team waits for you.
Camderson Academy · CA-LM-001
Make the shift from doer to manager.
A practical, self-paced course for new and soon-to-be managers in any business function. Set clear expectations, run one-on-ones that matter, build team routines that hold up on busy weeks and handle hard conversations fairly.
About 7 hours · 20 written lessons · Beginner · Self-paced · Certificate of completion · 30-day money-back guarantee
Being great at the work got you promoted. Leading the work is a different job.
02
Expectations that live in your head
Standards were never written down, delegated work comes back wrong, and you are left choosing between doing it over and checking on everything.
03
Conversations that keep getting postponed
A former peer is slipping, feedback feels awkward, and you are not sure where your job ends and HR begins, so the hard talk waits until it is harder.
Learning outcomes
What you will be able to do
Eight practical outcomes, each practiced in an exercise and checked in the final assessment or the Manager Playbook.
- Explain how the manager role differs from individual contributor work and plan a credible transition, including leading former peers, using the Manager Compass and a 30-60-90 plan.
- Run regular, two-way one-on-ones using a consistent agenda and a 1:1 tracker.
- Design a team rhythm of huddles, meetings and updates that ends in clear decisions and actions.
- Set clear expectations and delegate work using SCOPE and the four Ownership Levels, with follow-up that is neither absent nor micromanaging.
- Give specific, timely feedback with NOTE, and ask for and receive feedback without defensiveness.
- Coach a team member through questions to build skill and ownership.
- Address a performance gap fairly: diagnose the cause, prepare and hold a difficult conversation, document it factually and involve HR at the right points.
- Manage up and manage your own time and energy with a weekly update and Compass Check, assembled into a written Manager Playbook.
The Camderson method
Four frameworks for leading through other people
The Manager Compass
Down · Up · Across · Within
Four directions your attention must cover: your team, your manager, the peers you depend on and yourself. Your results now come through other people, so no direction can go ignored for long. A 15-minute Friday Compass Check keeps it honest.
The Rhythm Stack
Daily · Weekly · Monthly · Quarterly
The repeating routines that run a team, from a short huddle to a quarterly growth conversation. Decide the rhythm once, put it on the calendar and protect it. Every one-on-one follows the same agenda: Them first, Work, Growth, Next.
SCOPE
Success picture · Context · Ownership level · Points of check-in · Equipment
A short brief for setting expectations and delegating, paired with four Ownership Levels: Follow the plan, Recommend, Act and update, and Own it. Match the level to the person's experience with the task, not their seniority.
NOTE
Name · Outcome · Their view · Expectation and next step
One structure for feedback, coaching and difficult conversations. Name what you saw, explain the effect, ask for their view and agree what happens next. Coaching lives in their view; hard conversations add written preparation and follow-up.
Your results now come through people.
Curriculum
Inside the course
Seven modules, 20 written lessons with worked examples
01
From Doer to Manager
The Manager Compass, leading former peers and earning trust, and a 30-60-90 plan agreed with your manager.
02
One-on-Ones and Team Rhythms
Building your Rhythm Stack, one-on-ones that matter, meetings and huddles that earn their time, and communicating up, down and across.
03
Expectations and Delegation
Writing clear expectations, delegating with SCOPE and the Ownership Levels, and following up without micromanaging.
04
Feedback and Coaching
Specific, timely feedback with NOTE, receiving feedback and building the habit, and coaching through questions.
05
Difficult Conversations and Performance Basics
Preparing for and holding a difficult conversation, factual follow-up, diagnosing a performance gap and knowing exactly when to talk to HR.
06
Managing Up and Managing Yourself
Learning what your manager needs, a short weekly update, the Compass Check, and protecting your time, energy and boundaries.
07
Your Manager Playbook
Pulling your rhythm, one-on-one plan and delegation map into one operating view, and preparing your Manager Playbook capstone.
What is included
Everything you need to lead your first team
- 20 written lessons with worked examples, ready-to-use scripts and diagrams, readable at your own pace on any device
- A workbook with an exercise and reflection page for every lesson, including a weekly Compass Check page
- Quick reference cards for the Manager Compass, the Rhythm Stack and one-on-one agenda, SCOPE and the Ownership Levels, NOTE and the talk-to-HR triggers
- The Manager Toolkit, a spreadsheet with a 1:1 Tracker, Delegation Matrix, Team Rhythm Calendar and 30-60-90 Plan
- A conversation scripts library with ready-to-adapt wording for your first team conversation, first one-on-ones, feedback, coaching, delegation, difficult conversations, follow-up summaries and "I need to check with HR" holding lines
- The Kittredge Practice Pack, from a fictional building supply distributor: a team roster, scenario cards, a callback log, sample one-on-one notes, a messy meeting agenda to fix, a vague delegation request to rewrite and blank SCOPE and conversation plan templates, so you can practice without a real team
- An optional visual companion PDF
- Knowledge checks, a final assessment and the Manager Playbook, a capstone that turns the course into a written operating guide for your team
- A Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion when you pass the assessment and the Manager Playbook
Is this course right for you?
This course is for you if
- You were recently promoted into your first manager or team lead role, or you will be soon
- You were strong at the work and now need to lead others doing it, in operations, sales, service, finance or a technical or professional team
- You own a small business and are managing your first employees
It is not the right fit if
- You already lead other managers and want advanced leadership strategy (later courses in our Leadership & Management school go further)
- You need legal advice on discipline, termination or employment law (this course teaches management practice and shows you when to bring in HR or an employment attorney)
- You are an HR professional looking for policy design or compliance training
Your instructor
Meet your instructor
Ruben Tejada
MA, MS, PHR
Managing Partner · Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
Ruben Tejada is a strategic advisor and organizational leader whose career spans healthcare, public service, human resources, operations, and learning and development. He has advised executives and leaders on leadership development, talent development, employee experience, culture and succession planning, and has led initiatives to strengthen leadership accountability and build workforce capability. That work gives him a practical view of how decisions about people, culture and performance connect. In this course he helps you make the move from doing the work to leading the people who do it, with clear expectations, honest feedback and steady follow-through.
About
About Camderson Academy
Camderson Academy is the education division of Camderson Advisory Services. Camderson helps leaders build organizations that work without them in the room. Everything we teach has been used in a real organization first.
Training a team?
We offer group enrollment for organizations that want their new managers to share one practical approach to leading people. Email connect@camderson.com to talk through your team.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to take this course?
No special tools. A notebook or the course workbook is enough, plus your usual calendar and a shared tracker if you have one. Ideally you will also have a team to practice with, one you lead now or will lead soon. If you are not managing anyone yet, the fictional Kittredge practice files give you a team to work with, and you can complete every exercise and the Manager Playbook with them.
My team is not in customer service. Will this still help?
Yes. The running example follows a customer care team, but every lesson also shows how the same move looks on other kinds of teams, such as sales, finance, a field crew or a small owner-run shop. The frameworks work in any function where you lead people doing the work.
How long do I have access?
Your access does not expire. We review the course regularly, and any updates are added for you at no extra cost.
How long does it take?
About 7 hours in total: about 2 hours of reading and about 3 and a half hours of exercises and practice, plus the knowledge checks, final assessment and Manager Playbook. Every lesson is written, with no videos, so you can move at your own pace. At a lesson or two a day, plan on about three weeks.
Is this course right if I own a small business?
Yes. Small business owners managing their first employees are part of the audience. Lessons where an owner's situation differs include a short "If you own the business" note, covering managing your first hires, setting your own 90-day plan, communicating as the final decision maker, who your "manager" is when you are the boss, and where to turn for HR support when you have no HR team, such as a qualified HR advisor or an employment attorney.
Is the certificate accredited?
No. You receive a Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion after passing the final assessment and the Manager Playbook, a capstone in which you build a practical operating guide for your real team or the practice team and a person reviews your work. It is not accredited, and no SHRM or HRCI recertification credits are claimed or implied.
Is there a money-back guarantee?
Yes. You are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the course is not right for you, email connect@camderson.com within 30 days of purchase and we will refund you in full. No questions asked. Your course access ends when the refund is issued.
Does the course cover discipline, firing or other HR and legal issues?
Only up to the boundary. This course teaches general management practice, not employment law, and laws vary by state and country. It shows you how to handle everyday performance conversations well and exactly when to stop and involve HR, using a clear talk-to-HR trigger list that covers formal discipline, termination, harassment or discrimination concerns, medical or leave issues, accommodations, pay and hours. If you own a business without an HR team, the course points you to an employment attorney or qualified HR advisor. In your practice and your Playbook, use roles or initials and leave out sensitive details about real people.
Lead your team with confidence from the first week.
Self-paced, about 7 hours with hands-on practice, and every tool you need to build a working Manager Playbook for your team.
Backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee.