Taking on a new team is an adventure. Adventures are exciting, challenging, rewarding, exhausting, and full of learning.
I have been lucky to have led many great teams throughout my career. I have been an outside hire, promoted from within the team, and brought to a team from another area of the organization. Sometimes the change in leadership was welcome, other times, I was the last person they wanted as their leader. Often, those mixed feelings were within the same team.
Through these adventures, I have learned a great deal. Below are five lessons I’ve learned:
1. Listen first.
This was not a strength of mine initially. I am a problem solver by nature, and my first instinct was to come charging in, eager to fix things. You may be excited for your new role, have ideas to “fix” the team, and think you know all there is to know about the people and their work. You don’t know until you hear it from those that have lived it.
By having individual meetings with direct reports, I learned that a leader I really liked was actually a terrible fit for others. That meant I needed to provide a lot of support to help them heal from that experience.
I learned that I was literally the last person someone wanted to be their leader. I accepted responsibility for the way I handled past encounters and listened to how I could provide better feedback and support.
I was fortunate that these individuals were courageous enough to be honest with me and gave me the chance to become the leader they needed me to be. Learning to listen and be truly curious is a skill I continue to develop, and it is powerful.
2. Be authentic.
In one of my earliest positions, I tried to be like another leader because I saw his style working. It did work for him. But they had not hired me to be another him, they hired me because of the unique attributes that I brought to the table.
It can be tempting to define yourself in comparison to the leader you are replacing, either by trying to emulate them or by intentionally becoming their opposite. This might work in the short term, but it isn’t sustainable and can erode trust.
I will note that being authentic doesn’t mean never changing. It means being the best version of yourself and continuing to grow.
3. Practice kind accountability.
It can be challenging to hold your new team accountable. You may fear that if you hold them accountable too early, they won’t like you. The truth is you will never please everyone all the time. Those that hold themselves accountable will see you letting others slide and that can impact retention of your best team members.
Just remember to add the kind part of kind accountability. Stay curious when asking about missed deadlines or metrics. Help them sort the facts from the stories and talk through how you can provide support.
Questions like, “I noticed you were late with this assignment. Is everything okay?” open the door to understanding rather than assumptions. If there is an obstacle, brainstorm ways to overcome it. If not, help them identify how to prevent it in the future.
Assume positive intent and work together for the best solution. Once you know your team better, the approach stays the same, but they will come to expect it.
4. Communicate with the team in mind.
Communicating early and often is critical with a new team. The first three tips all need clear communication to be successful. They also need communication tailored to both the team and the individuals.
If you like to send emails, but your team communicates best via Teams, you may need to adapt. You may have one team member that likes team meetings to express ideas, where others may want to chat one-on-one. You may need small groups rather than the whole team for the most effective collaboration.
Following important conversations with a written summary and reinforcing key points during one-on-one meetings helps ensure your message is understood across different communication preferences.
It is also important to make sure they know the most effective way to communicate with you. Asking them to send their request in an email to ensure you have all the details isn’t pushing the responsibility to them, but rather ensuring they are heard and understood, as long as you acknowledge the information and reiterate your understanding.
5. Check in.
It is important to check in with your team. Be careful with the questions you ask. Instead of “How are things?” try Stop, Start, Continue style feedback.
What should I stop doing as your leader, what should I start doing and what should I continue doing?
Even more importantly, resist the urge to defend yourself. Listen, stay curious, ask for more information. You may not always be able to oblige the request; however, you can make them feel heard, understood, and valued.
Also seek perspective from trusted peers and leaders. What are they noticing about how your team is adapting? Their observations can provide more context that helps you better support your team.
Everything we’ve talked about so far focuses on helping your team through the transition. But leadership transitions affect both the team and the leader.
Whether you are learning a whole new company or taking on a new role within the same team, it is important to care for yourself as well as your team. Leadership transitions are changes for the leader too.
As you get promoted or start a new job, your social structure changes. They say it is lonely at the top, and that can be true. You now have to navigate relationships differently, especially with those who are in your direct line of support.
You also may have been a rockstar at doing the work, only to find that it is no longer your job to do it, but rather you have to support others as they do.
You don’t have to navigate those changes alone. Lean on your leadership, peers and if available, your Employee Assistance Program. If that isn’t available, seeking outside coaching or counseling can be very helpful. Having an external, confidential place to sort through thoughts and challenges can make navigating your responsibilities much easier.
Finally, remember to strive for progress over perfection. Feedback is data. Some of it will help immediately. Some of it may not make sense until much later. Either way, it offers another opportunity to become the leader your team needs and the leader you want to be.
