This is the first in a series of articles on what it is like to take on a leadership position of a group you are unfamiliar with and what steps you can take to succeed. Most of what we discuss will work if you are taking over a new department at your location, but for these articles, I want to focus on a scenario where you come in as an unknown leader.
Getting hired to run a location or business that is running perfectly is almost unheard of, so let鈥檚 assume that you were hired to make things better.
The first step is to know and define exactly why you were chosen for this position and what your primary objective is. If you were hired to turn things around, get a good definition of what would define success in the eyes of your superiors. If you were hired to replace someone who has departed or retired, find out the perceptions of your business unit from those inside your organization. This would include your subordinates, your peers, and definitely your superiors. You want clarity and agreement from your boss or your leadership team. If there is no alignment, you may have identified why your predecessor is no longer there.
I took over a business unit, and my subordinates could not define success other than keeping their customers happy. My peers were sure that we were a loss leader or a cost center for the company at best, and my leadership team wasn鈥檛 sure, but they felt that there was a great deal of potential for the business. This quickly defined for me that there was a lack of urgency on the part of our business that was primarily caused by the lack of objective feedback on how the individuals and the business were performing. This became one of my top priorities.
The next step is to do your homework. Do as much due diligence as you can before you start your new position. Talk to industry peers who might interact with the department or business. If you are talking to a customer or vendor (internal or external), ask them what they would like to see added or changed that would make the product or service more valuable. My vendors surprised me when I asked them the value they saw in my company. I had looked at it through my lens as a customer instead of their strategic lens. I was happy to find out that my business type played a major role in their go-forward strategy and that my specific company had a positive reputation that far exceeded my perception. This completely changed my strategy and plotted course for my first 100 days.
During this process, it is critical that you document your findings. Putting your boss鈥檚 expectations in writing and sharing them with him or her will not only ensure that you are aligned, it will also help you later should the company winds shift or you get a new boss. You can pull out this document and show that this was the agreed-upon course of action. It will help you get aligned with your new boss, or protect you from being the fall guy for what you may feel is success, but your leadership may view differently due to changes in circumstances. It provides clarity for all parties.
The other important reason to write things down is so that you have something to refer back to later. We may be convinced that we will remember everything, but we get busy. It will also help you avoid the 鈥渂oiling of the frog鈥� syndrome. The story is that a frog dropped into boiling water reacts to the danger and immediately hops out. But a frog put into warm water that is slowly increasing in temperature does not realize the danger until it is too late, and it does not have the energy to jump out. The same is true in a new leadership position. At first, you see all the problems that need to be fixed and the opportunities you can take advantage of, but you get busy and engrossed in the day-to-day. You then forget about the issues you first saw or rationalize away the importance of fixing them.
Next in the series: The First 100 Days.
