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Transitions into new roles are the most challenging times in the professional lives of managers. They’re times of great excitement. You’ve got a new role. You’re working to get engaged and get yourself up to speed. But there are also times of significant vulnerability. There’s lots you don’t know, and in fact, there may be lots you don’t even know that you don’t know.
Get a jump-start
The time before you actually start the new job is a really crucial time when you should focus on preparing yourself to go into the new role. It’s precious time because typically you’re not pulled into the flow of what’s really going on in the organization yet. Your calendar isn’t completely full. You’ve got a bit of time to reflect and think about things and really get yourself ready to move forward. This is the case whether you’re being promoted into a new role or joining a new organization.
If you’re going into a new role in a promotion sense, then you really want to be thinking about what does success look like at the new level. Are there some people that you can identify that really exemplify what effectiveness looks like at the level to which you’re being promoted? Take some time to reflect a bit on their behaviors, on their approaches to doing things. Think about how it maps onto what you currently do. Identify some key gaps, and think about how you want to show up. How are you really going to show up in the context of the new goal?
What it takes to prepare yourself is different if you’re joining a new organization. There, not only do people not know you, but you truly don’t know the organization. There’s an entirely new culture and a new set of politics with which you need to become familiar. You can get a great start on it before you even enter the new organization itself by talking to people that understand the place, really understand the politics, understand the culture. So use that crucial time before you’re actually into the new job to prepare yourself to take the new role.
Engage quickly
The key is to engage as quickly and effectively as you can. Focus on the learning process and getting up the learning curve as effectively and efficiently as possible. Really understand what’s going on with your team because typically you’re inheriting a team rather than able to build a team from the outset. Thinking through how you’re going to deploy those people effectively, defining a vision and a set of goals and strategy for the organization, and beginning to lead the change process as you move things forward.
You also want to be thinking in terms of momentum. Transitions are a momentum game. You really need to be identifying places where you can get some early wins, even if those early wins are really about building personal credibility or being seen to become part of the organization. As you do these things, you need to always keep in mind the culture and politics of the organization that you’re joining. You need to be thinking in terms of the key relationships that you need to build, the alliances you need to create as you really begin to move forward with those critical early initiatives that are going to create momentum for you in the new role.