New Leader On The Block

Coming into an organization from the outside

December 23, 2024

Intro

There are a lot of ways to enter into a company and gain respect, while also bringing your outside perspective, but I like to follow a basic framework. In order to jump in as a new leader, it’s essential to gain enough perspective, knowledge, context, and introduce yourself so the company knows who they have in their firm.

Initial Objectives

Respect
Credibility
Trust
Presence
Learning
Understanding
Context
Listen

These are the primary focus areas preceding your results-level objectives. Results follow your execution on the foundations you establish. Results and growth must have some groundwork before they can come to fruition. You can be the best operator, sales exec, or engineer, but no one cares.

They first care that you are good people and they want you in their world. They see your care for others, they trust you mean well, and they believe you know what you’re talking about it. If you’re full of shit, everyone will catch on quickly—you are quite exposed when you’re the new guy. Everyone is listening to what you say, how you say it, and are doing a little research on you, reading you, and like it or not, they’re judging you.

The Story

Establishing yourself as a person and baseline professional are critical. The get to know you, lift off the cover, go through the honeymoon period, and learn about you, while you get a feel for them.

As you get up to speed with the fundamentals, it’s important to shift from review and analyze, to a bias for action. This framework is a simple best practice for specific areas requiring attention:

COAPA

Curious Observation —> Analysis & Planning —> Action

How

Observe
Practice Patience
Plan
Action

Stepping into a new company is similar to an interim role in the near term. For interim, it’s just expedited with less expectation of long term results, but more emphasis on short term stabilization and risk mitigation. A lot more keeping the lights on with interim, while a permanent role will have a much higher expectation for action, results, and long-term fit.

It's completely understandable to come in as a new leader, and be thinking- who is going to listen to me, who is going to believe in me, how will they trust me? I'll share some perspective on how I approached it in a past role, and maybe it will help you find your best approach for success, fulfillment, and maybe your own development.

Moving towards the end of the summer of 2018, my global RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) program team had someone stepping out on leave. He was responsible for our EMEA Talent Acquisition (TA) team. He was battling burnout, a demanding client that wasn't going to be happy, and needed some time off, so he took an open-ended sabbatical The initial thought was that he would return within a few weeks, once he had a chance to step away for a bit. One leader covered for a couple weeks, and I was asked to cover in country in the UK for another month if it was necessary. After 4-6 weeks, it was apparent I would be in the role permanently.

When I entered the role initially, I had no idea I would be in the role long-term, and it was even mentioned, I may go home after a week or two. I share this for some context, but it doesn't change the approach. When you step into a leadership role, it is like the work version of expedited dating and marriage all in one, and it can be a bit like acting, and even a bit scary, but you still have to show an ownership mentality in an intentional way. When a newbie exec, showing responsibility and ownership builds credibility and trust. It shows you are a leader worth listening to and that while you’re in the role, you are with the team in the mix, not just a guest. Here are a few challenges to expect, a potential approach to consider, and major lessons learned.

Major challenges for a new leader

Limited history or context, with a need to ramp-up quickly
Limited credibility, trust, or reputation, when from outside the group or company
Cultural - language, country, region, inter-company, intra-company, age, experience, etc.
People - they will play you, if you let them. They will tell you they could always do this, never had to do that, and the accountability will try to shrink and flexibility and requests will increase quickly
Clients - if you're in a client-facing role, similar to your own team, they will likely ask for all they were told no about previously, and then some

Beyond on understanding the challenges, it’s also important to consider the best way to approach your role. How will you connect, command, and convince?

Approach to leading in a leadership role

Focus on establishing fundamental relationships immediately
Identify potential allies, and those working against you, your enemies in a sense
Listen to the team and customers
Observe as much as you can
Ideas are all over, but see who has relevant ideas that can be implemented
Decide and implement swiftly
this is an opportunity for you to learn as well
Can adjust later

Learning is an important aspect of being in a new role—embrace it. The opportunity to step into a new role allows you to upskill yourself, broaden your perspective, and allow you more confidence in the role.

Major lessons learned

Care and compassion matter
Seeking to understand has so much value
As a leader, your ability to gain respect is more important than your subject matter skill or knowledge
Leadership is often taken for granted as a routine skill, something natural that people have or don't, but it can be developed and learned
Establishing calm, concise, and presence makes up for a lot of baggage you have been left with sorting through
If you are open to learning, new ways of looking at things and new information have a way of finding you

This experience starting in a leadership role, ended up being one of the most exciting, rewarding, and challenging roles to date. All for different reasons than my previous roles. Consider a leadership role as a genuine learning experience and growth opportunity, and it could be one of your better development opportunities.

Article contains excerpts from original article regarding interim work.

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