Transitioning
into a new role, be it taking on a new project, having a new leader to report
to, or a promotion is an exciting time.
You are going to want to develop a leadership strategy for this
role. It starts before your first day
begins.
As a first
step, educate yourself.
Yes, you
have done a lot of background work and research to prepare for the job
interview. In preparation, you have
reviewed Strategic Plans (past and present), Master Plans, policies, minutes,
etc. But now that you have been awarded the position, ask for background
documents or seminal documents that may not be made public.
Another element to this first step is to enter your new role with the attitude that
you are in learning mode. You are coming into this new role with some valuable experience, knowledge and expertise, but as discussed, what made you success in the past isn’t necessarily going to work for you in your new role" “What got you here won’t get
you there.”
Again, be prepared to grow, get uncomfortable
and learn. Mentally you need to explore
how you can leverage your competencies and make more strategic contributions.
Plan
Start
planning what you hope to achieve and break it down into specific milestones so
you can hit the ground running.
For
planning purposes, ask yourself, what you hope to achieve by the end of your:
- First day
- First week
- First month
- Second month
so that by the end of your first three months you have made significant headway. You can plan your first three months before you walk in the door, but know that it will change based on the situations that arise and what you learn.
Keep in mind that every transition is unique and you need to match your
strategy to the situation. So look for an early win. They don’t have to be large, but an early win
starts the momentum and builds credibility. Here are two examples:
- Communications was part of my portfolio when I started a new role. I had a plan: educate myself on what had worked in the past and what had not, and develop a holistic and coordinated approach to promote key service areas with the input of staff and the leadership team. After my first week, it was evident that this approach was not going to work. The one Director in particular wanted a promotional campaign started immediately. So I went for a quick win and re-launched a campaign that had worked well in another organization. Thankfully, the campaign worked well. It increased the service area by 30% in the first month and sustained itself over the following year. Furthermore, it empowered staff and demonstrated that frontline staff are the true brand ambassadors.
- Another example of an early win had to do with statistical gathering. Front-line staff were required to note that kind of questions the public asked. Was it directional question or information based? If it was information based, what were they seeking? A complex tracking sheet was at each service point. It was onerous, and on busy days, its validity was questionable. Furthermore, at the end of each month, I was given the sheets to review and tally. I discovered however, that even though these sheets had been filled out for years, there was no record of them. There was no Excel file, no analysis recorded, and they were not part of any monthly report. So the sheets were quickly scrapped and a quarterly "count week" replaced it. Staff were shown how numbers would be recorded in the future, how they would be shared and potential impact. It was a win-win change.
I hope you found this helpful and gives you lots to think about as you prepare to start your new role.
