Recipe for succeeding in a new role

business

Your phone buzzes – another congratulatory message on LinkedIn. You feel that familiar glow of pride. But along with that, you feel a frisson of fear. Will you succeed in your new role?

A new role, whether at a new company, division or within your existing vertical, brings opportunity and risk. Will you be able to live up to everyone’s and your own expectations? Are you set up to succeed? Will you be able to work productively with your new manager? Will you inherit a high-functional team or will you need to make changes? So many unknowns!

The best way to spring-load for a new role is to think through the following:

Let go of the past

Arrive in your new role with a beginner’s mind. Resist the urge to pattern-match and jump to conclusions based on your experience. The people, processes, challenges and technology may be completely different. Mentally break with your old role or company and embrace the new. Most of all, avoid starting every conversation with “In my old company, we used to…”

Understand the present

Understand the broader strategy of the organisation, and team goals and assess the status of projects that are currently in flight. You can organise your early activities as follows:

• Begin a productive working relationship with your boss. Aligning expectations, work styles and communication preferences are the essential first step. If you are in a matrixed organisation, you will need to repeat this with other stakeholders. Overall, remember that your Boss is NOT going to change – it’s your responsibility to adapt your approach to her preference.
• If you are a manager, meeting your direct reports is critical. Begin to understand their strengths and weaknesses. One-on-ones are a great means to achieve this rather than bringing the whole team together, as some feel uncomfortable speaking up publicly.
• Accelerate your learning. Early in your new role, it will feel like you are drinking from a firehose! New acronyms, people and systems. In addition to learning the technical parts, pay close attention to the things that are unsaid – stated vision and goals, the culture, who wields power in the organisation and how decisions are made. Resist the urge to make big changes – there is an almost compulsive need to take action to demonstrate your prowess. Most often, these backfire. It can reflect a lack of confidence and a compulsive need to prove yourself. A genuine desire to learn before taking action signals trust and credibility. Any actions you take that are rooted in an understanding of the system will increase the odds of success.
• Secure some early wins. Identify a few key areas: people, relationships, processes, and products that you can achieve some early wins. It allows you to leverage the principle of “Show… don’t tell” and build momentum and confidence to pursue bigger goals.
• Meet people across the organisation. One trick is to ask everyone you meet to introduce you to one other person. A great question to ask is “If you were me, what would you focus your attention on?" These sorts of informal conversations help you identify who is trustworthy and not, who is capable and not, and who has influence in the organisation. Always remember to have thoughtful follow-ups after a conversation.
• Manage projects that are currently in flight. As you step into a new role, it is critical to continue forward momentum on existing projects. Don’t assume that you know what is going on. Listen and learn first. Attempt to fix any roadblocks to progress. Communicate on the status of the projects broadly. Ideally, the culture will allow you to be candid about your status. Observe how your teammates communicate status and address any problems. And do not blame the previous person in the role. While tempting, and possibly true, it’s not a good idea to blame someone who isn’t around to defend themselves.

Plan for the future

Most new roles have a honeymoon period. Utilise this time to plan your next time horizon.

Build broad alliances. Early in a career, success is through technical knowledge. As you advance, most success is achieved with and through others. Don’t count on your organisation’s onboarding process to help you build a network. To all around you—bosses, peers, subordinates—just ask, frequently, “What can I do to help you today or this week?” or more simply, “How can I help you?”

Identify challenges and opportunities. Once you have your sea legs, you will have a better sense of what needs to change. They could be personal, team-based or even broader in scope (depending on your level of reach). Put a plan together with objectives and key results to determine success and begin with enthusiasm.

Most people should expect to change roles numerous times in their career – via a new job or a promotion. Creating and polishing your plan to succeed rapidly in a new role will be an essential skill to build a fruitful career.

(The author is a global social entrepreneur who guides professionals in their new roles)