Guest Blog by Colin Gold
I got promoted! I was 22 years old and was working in the Grand Hyatt New York. In one week, I was about to move across the country to San Francisco, to a new city, and a brand-new hotel. All of a sudden, I received a call from one of the executives and he asked to meet with me. Needless to say, I was a little concerned.
This executive sat me down in his office and gave me advice I have used and shared for almost 30 years.
How to transition into a new job and get everyone to know you before you take the leadership role.
I knew this executive thought highly of me, but he also knew I was overzealous. What he didn’t want me to do was go into this new position thinking I had to prove myself. He knew I would prove myself, but he wanted me to do it the RIGHT way.
Throughout the years, I have shared this advice with many managers, and now I am sharing it with you.
Please note: The timelines are not precise, and every job change is a little different, but the concept is solid. It has been proven, not only by me in multiple promotions, but by many people I shared it with as well.
The First Thirty Days- The Listening Phase
The first thirty days is your opportunity to understand everything that is going on in your new environment. It is your free pass time, where you will have little responsibility, as you learn your new position and the tasks and roles you will be playing. I call this the “Listening Phase.”
I remember my manager telling me, “Colin you are loud and have too many opinions, in this Listening period, that’s all I want you to do, Listen.”
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- Listen to everything: how the team interacts, how your managers speak to the team, how they talk to their peers.
- Learn by observing, who does what? Learn by observing, about the different relationships. Learn by observing, about the different skill levels.
- But do not offer any opinions or suggestions, unless you “absolutely” have to do so. If you don’t have to make a decision, don’t. Learn the phrase, how have you done this in the past?
Even though he personalized his approach to me, this process really does well. Take this honeymoon period and learn everything you can about the new environment, and let everyone get to know you, the person, not the manager.
The next 30 days- The Asking Phase
Ask as many questions as you can. Now is the time to see how everyone thinks and why the processes work the way they do. Asking questions at this point is good. Everyone has gotten to know you, and your inquiries will come from a genuine place of wanting to understand, and not from an all-knowing attitude of “I know how to do this better.”
Personally, I found these 30 days the hardest every time I transitioned into a new position. By now I felt comfortable, and in some cases, I did know a better way to accomplish a task, but this is the period of asking questions only, and it works. Continue to learn, by asking.
Key Phrase: Why have you done it this way in the past?
My mentor loosened the decision-making restraints a little. He told me to ease my way into making decisions slowly. First, the most inconsequential and then gradually into more mundane, and easily repairable decisions. But always make these decisions the same way they have always been made. If you have done a good job in the “Listening Phase,” you will know how the team handles almost everything.
60 Days Plus- Begin to do!
After you have been there 60 days, and understand with great certainty how the business operates, now is the time to begin to make your impact.
Start slow- think of some easy ideas you wanted to implement but didn’t because you were in the earlier phases.
These initial suggestions for improvement should minimize the people they affect but bring value to the organization. Ideas that affect people are much harder to roll back if they don’t work.
Use your initial suggestions as proving your merits, and then as you find more and more success, run with it. Show your new team; you are the leader they expected when they hired you.
I have used this same process many times, and only once in my career, was my transition, not a smooth one. Why? I can actually trace it back to me not following the steps shared with me, and I listed above.
Thanks, Jamal Rashdi. You made an impact on my career.
If you would like to download the Transition Checklist, please click here:
Colin Gold helps Emerging Managers become Extraordinary Leaders.
A Father, Husband, Son, and Brother. I am a self-proclaimed Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney Geek.
A Hospitality Executive with over thirty years’ experience, I now share my passion and expertise with other industries. For the past five years, I am working with companies outside of hospitality to improve their company cultures, customer experiences, and leadership growth.
With my realistic, down to earth approach, my goal is to ensure everyone benefits from our conversations and begins their individual process to improve their business immediately.
I enjoy inspiring people to accomplish a common goal. My passion makes me an engaging speaker, leader, trainer, facilitator, mentor, and coach.
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Link to download checklist: https://leadership.colingold.com/terra
Link to sign up: https://leadership.colingold.com/newslettersignup
