I’ve been new a lot. I’m open to change, will consider options, and have moved around the country for new job opportunities. I’ve learned a little bit about being new with every job change. Some of that wisdom has been gained through notable successes, some of it through massive failures. What I’ve also seen is how poor others are at being new. I see the same mistakes being made by new employees, particularly at the middle manager and executive level.
I have been writing this book, “How to be New,” in my head for many years. First, I’d like to take a look at what motivates our behavior when we start a new job with an organization.
The First 100 Days
Where did this society get the idea that massive change needs to occur in an executive’s first 100 days? You hear it every four years from our government: the President creates his agenda and sets out to accomplish as much as possible during his first 100 days. Hillary Clinton, one of the most experienced politicians to run for President, shares a lot of her plans for her first 100 days in What Happened. While Hillary knows the landscape of the White House pretty well, she’s never been President. Wouldn’t it be better to take the first 100 days to listen rather than just to act?
The first 100 days of any job should be spent learning and listening. I saw a lot of “armchair administration” when I worked in schools; people were quick to judge from any vantage point. They believed they could effectively determine what to do in a particular situation without actually being in that situation. But when you are IN a position, everything changes. You gain a perspective that you cannot possibly have unless you actually assume the role. In fact, it takes multiple perspectives to understand a situation well enough to act on it effectively; the outsider perspective alone is not enough. So it is the job of the new leader to listen, learn, and run her observations through the filter of her own experiences, expertise, and education.
Acting without history or perspective is one of the most harmful leadership styles I have witnessed. This doesn’t mean an effective new leader does not make decisions; it means that she gathers a variety of perspectives and learns factual information about a situation or an organization before acting.
So what should occur during the first 100 days in a new position?
Some activities are simple: first, Meet with your key stakeholders. Listen and learn about their backgrounds, the job they do, and their perspectives about the organization. Write down what you learn. But also make plans to reach further into the organization to hear from those not in leadership positions. In education those people might be teachers, paraprofessionals, related service providers, finance officers, groundskeepers, and parents. In a nonprofit, it might be grant writers, fundraisers, human resource members, safety officers, factory workers, IT specialists, and administrative assistants.
Second, Participate. Participate in meetings by asking questions and providing structure if it is needed. Attend regular department meetings run by other leaders. Attend events for the organization: bike rallies, birthday celebrations, lunch and learns, retirement celebrations. Walk around your campus if the organization is in one place, and plan site visits if your position has a remote component or additional sites. Participate in events tthat you serendipitously encounter.
Sometimes a person who is new finds it hard to justify the time it takes to observe. She feels that if she is not implementing new practices, criticizing current procedures, or introducing new perspectives, she is not doing her work. Instead, think about Franklin Covey’s Time Matrix Covey Time Managment and the Important/Not Urgent quartile. You are not only learning the foundation of the organization you have joined: you are also building relationships and resources for the work you will do later.
Third, and this is the one I struggle with the most: Be Present. As a new employee and particularly a new executive, you will be observed and judged by those around you. Stay off your phone, look people in the eye, take notes during meetings. Too often my ADD mind drifted during a meeting, and I resorted to old habits like opening up my laptop or checking emails and texts on my phone. If there’s one habit I wish I could break, it’s that one. And with opportunities to be distracted expanding every day, staying ahead of this one is very challenging.
What you are wearing, what you are doing, how you respond, the questions you ask: they will ALL be judged intently by the people who are new to you. Choose your behaviors wisely. Remember that you are balancing what others are learning about with what you are learning about them and the organization they represent. Your opportunity to take a fresh look at your colleagues is short-lived: make the most of it.