Transcript
Ok lesson 4 our final lesson in the new leader 101 mini-course where we’re going to bring everything together and talk about what to do on your first day on the job as a new leader.
This is an exciting day. It may have been something that you’ve been looking forward to for a while, it maybe a new job that you’ve been anticipating and working hard for, and well, the time has come. You’re probably nervous but also full of energy, and some of the questions going through your mind might include, “Will I do a good job?” “Will my people like me?” “Will I get along with my boss?” “What’s it going to be like?” and finally, “I hope I don’t screw it up.” This anxiety is normal, but I am here to tell you preparation is the best antidote.
Let’s talk about some things on your first day to do list that will help you get through it in a very positive fashion.
The first thing that I recommend to people is to make every effort to walk around and meet as many people as possible. Meet as many people as you possibly can—especially those who work directly for you, and in the process of doing that, tell them who you are, talk to them like you are a real human being. Don’t lord it over them. Relate to them in a way that they can understand. Talk to them about your family, talk about their family, talk about sports, talk about hobbies, and relate to them on a very human level. I suggest asking just enough questions to get the conversation started. And what you really want to be doing is listening to your people very, very carefully. In the process of getting to know them, you want to try and pick up hints, clues, and information, as to the state of the organization and some things that are going well, and some things, perhaps, aren’t going so well.
The bottom line here is to seek to understand what they think is needed to get the job done well. People will tell you if you listen, and the key is to listen very carefully. So, your overall objective is to begin to establish strong relationships that are positive, trusting, and genuine, with the people that work for you. And the best way to do this, is to come across as a genuine human being,
One of the other things you want to do, is make your first meeting count. Don’t just walk in there and think, “Ok, I’m the leader, I’m in charge, I got the job, I am good to go.” Those first 90 days, and especially those first few days are going to set the tone for your initial tenure in your new position. Because here is what people are thinking: “Who is this person?” “Is this someone I can get along with?” “What are his or her expectations?” “Where does she or he want to take us?” and finally, “Is this someone I can work for?”
I recall my first opportunity, to lead as a young second lieutenant in Germany, my boss had been sent off to a course back in the States for several months so yours truly, flighted up as a section chief of the shop that totaled 4 airman. Three, including myself, and… and couple of what I call crusty master sergeants. And with all sincerity, on my first day as a new boss I sought to take charge and get things rolling, so I called a mandatory meeting of these few people, and I proceeded to lay out “Scherrer’s Leadership Policy.” So imagine me as a 23 year old, and these master sergeants were in their late thirties early 40’s, and they’ve been around the block more than once. So here’s this young whippersnapper officer laying down the law as it were.
So at about half way through, one of the master sergeants who went by “OB” said, “Lieutenant, who ya talking to?” I said, “What?” His question, hadn’t quite registered. “We know you mean well but “D,” (That’s the name of the other sergeant), D and I have been around the block a few times, I think we’ve got this, don’t worry, we’ll keep you out of trouble. And I can tell you that the message was received. So I made the classic rookie mistake of thinking that I needed to immediately assert my authority so everyone knew who was in charge.
The better thing to do is to take the time listen to those seasoned experts. And in a nutshell, that’s what I advise you to do, your first day on the job. So, listen and start to answer the above questions as clearly as you possibly can. Don’t make the same rooky mistake that I did.
Continuing with the bonus chart, here are some considerations to keep in mind about the meeting itself. Figure out when and where you want to hold your meeting. Having it in your conference room, or outside around a picnic table, communicates two different things, it depends on the type of tone and environment you want to set as a leader. If you want to be business like or you want to be more casual. So, figure out where you want to hold it. Make sure that you include as many people as you possibly can and be very clear about it too. If you want to be just with your direct reports, if you want to meet with your entire team, your choice is going to dictate when and where you hold that meeting.
As far as a suggested agenda goes, introduce yourself, tell people who you are even though you have done your walk around already or in the process of doing your walk around, because there are probably some people that haven’t heard what you’ve had to say. Talk about your leadership approach. This is where you can get in a little bit more detail and you ought to get in a little more detail about your approach to leadership. I would not do this through your walk around where you’re shaking hands with people and getting to know them at a personal level but here, communicate those three legs of the leadership stool that you built in the three previous lessons. Why you chose to lead, your definition of leadership, and your leadership philosophy.
Also, by this time you should have an idea about where you want to go as an organization. So you can start to talk about your vision in general terms. Then finally take some questions. If you don’t know the answer, get back to them quickly. They may ask you some tough ones, and those tough ones may give you some really good information once you go back and find out the answer, it may indicate some issues with some challenges you might have. But over and above that is shows it a simple responsiveness, it shows respect for the person who has asked the question.
Another key is to spend time putting they meeting agenda together. Don’t be walking into the office that day and put together your agenda. Spend some time before the meeting thinking about your presentation. Practice it too. You don’t want to sound overly rehearsed, but you don’t want to stumble and you want to be confident, you want to be clear, you want to be articulate.
Finally, be genuine, be yourself. You don’t have to be anyone else than the person you already are, because that is the person that your bosses hire to do the job.
Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine who once took over an Air Force Wing. A wing in the Air Force is usually between a two thousand and four thousand people, sometimes larger. It’s the Air Force’s primary war fighting formation, and frankly, it’s a big deal to be a wing commander.
So, his first day on the job, he held a commanders call, which is basically a big meeting with all the airmen in the organization, so you can imagine there’s very few places where you can have a couple thousand people who get together on an Air Force base so he had rolling meetings in the base theater. He essentially did what I suggested previously that you do. He talked about himself, a little bit about who he was, a little bit about his family, what he liked to do, his approach to leadership, and idea of where he wanted to take the wing. Then he solicited questions and for those questions he couldn’t answer, he got back to quickly to whoever asked it. Now one other thing he did that I found was a little unusual. At the end of the commander’s call, he challenged anyone in the entire wing to a 10k run. He was a pretty swift runner, and he wanted to go out and show that he was in shape and that he expected his airman to be in shape. So two brave souls within the wing who were also pretty fast runners took him up on the challenge. He proceeded to run around the flight line, but the thing is, those he was running with didn’t know the course, so they didn’t know exactly where the finish line would be and of course my friend had run the course before and knew exactly the layout. So, although one of them gave him a pretty good run for his money, he ended up winning and he did prove his point who was top dog as far as from a fitness perspective on that day.
Now, if you want to go and challenge your people to some sort of physical contest, get happy, be my guest, but it’s not necessary, with this agenda and a few other things you might decide to add I would say this is more than sufficient for making your first meeting count.
So let’s sum this up, your first day on the job is really important, it’s a significant event for you and your people. Those first impressions matter, so make it count.
They will want to know who you are, what you stand for, your expectations and where you want to take them. At least at some sort of basic level. Make sure that you pull all that together and that you are able to articulate your perspective clearly. Hold a meeting or series of meetings, depending on how large your organization is, so you can communicate this as well as your leadership approach – what we have worked on in the last three lessons. And then, I can’t emphasize this enough, listen, listen, and listen…then listen some more.
Take the time to soak up the culture, the challenges, the issues, and be able to sniff out some areas that you might need to work on right off the bat. Most importantly, it’s all about building strong relationships right from the get-go that are positive, genuine and productive. Because remember, as a leader you get nothing done without having the people that work for you on the same team with a willingness to follow you.
So some homework. I’d like you to answer the following questions. Have you done that walk-around? If you have not, I recommend you do it. Go out and communicate in the way that I recommended earlier. If you’ve done your walk-around, how did it go? Even if it’s not your first day on the job, put together a meeting agenda as though it were. What would you say? You have some suggestions from this lesson. There may be some things that you’d like to add and amplify. Where would you hold that meeting? Who would you invite? And finally, this is the most important part of the homework, have that meeting, and oh-by the way, do that walk-around.
Alright so that wraps up not only lesson 4, but this four part mini-course in new leader 101. I hope you gathered a few nuggets you’ll be able to use in your daily leadership walk and that what you’ve learned will help you in your leadership journey.