The best first-year managers usually build one process, ritual, or system nobody asked for and everyone ends up using. That's the clearest signal the role is actually yours now.
Nobody puts "identify and fix the thing nobody owns" on a job description, which is exactly why it's a useful test. Doing it anyway is a different kind of proof than hitting an assigned target.
Notice the recurring problem nobody's officially responsible for
Every team has one. It's usually not glamorous, a bad handoff, a missing doc, an onboarding step everyone reinvents.
Build something small enough to actually finish
A better handoff doc, a simple dashboard, a cleaner checklist. Scope it to something you can ship, not a grand initiative.
Let it prove itself before you formalize it
Run it informally first. If people keep using it without being told to, that's the signal it's worth making official.