If you’re just joining our Book Club series, you’ll want to start here.  

Welcome back.

Chapter 9…… this is our last chapter.  You're almost done!

This week gets a little more personal.  Managing yourself, your family, a possible move….. Lots to cover.    

Here’s what stood out this week:

Reflection

As a leader you should always take time to reflect.  But during a transition - it's an absolute must.

Have a look at the Reflection questions (p. 175).  Pull out what makes sense, add a few if any come to mind.  Then carve out & protect a time to reflect daily - at least for those first few weeks.  It’s a good practice for all tough times.

It'a also a good time to revisit the Onboarding checklist all the way back in Chapter 1 (p. 39).  Anything there to revisit, add to your action plan?   

Self-Awareness:  Bad Behaviours

Some great suggestions (p. 176).  I’d add another - a riff on avoidance dysfunction.  

A promotion will push you well outside your comfort zone.  I've seen leaders gravitate back to the work they know - which is now done by someone on their team.  It looks like micromanaging, but the real goal is to get back that old confidence.

Anything you’d add to your list?

Stress

Best tip was about chronic under-performance.  If you’re working harder and achieving less, you can’t work your way out of this.  Time to reduce your stress. The 3 Pillars section may help.

3 Pillars:

• 90 Day Strategies: Once we’re done the book, swing back through and grab the best suggestions. Create a simple 90 day plan. You don’t need to follow it, but it’s a great tool to pull out if you find yourself off-track.

• Personal Disciplines: get habits, routines, office etc set up right away. There's some great ideas here.

• Support Systems:

  • Home: It’s a team effort at home too. Thought the cultural familiarization (p182) was interesting. And if if you’re relocating, sign up for all the relocation services your company offers.

  • Your Support Squad: it’s a bit late to build a network once you have a new job. But you’ve always got old friends/mentors from your past experiences.

    • At a new company? Seek out interesting people. Invite for coffee. Ask for a little advice/insights/opinions. Or just chat.

    • And….. I’m biased but …..hiring an executive coach is a brilliant addition to your squad.

Stephen

So….. I’m from Calgary.  Hearing someone describe Torontonians as “irritating polite” and ‘’nice’ was hysterical.  Love Toronto, lived there for a few years. But that’s hilarious.

Okay thanks for indulging me….  Back to the chapter. Here are a couple takeaways:

• Culture: Stephan underestimated the impact of the cultural differences. The new company was so different, it wasn’t somewhere he could succeed.

• Family Affair: There are a lot of hurdles to a big move. You and your family need to be working together.

  • Not moving? It's still a good idea to prepare your loved ones. Long hours, exhaustion, impatience - those are normal the first few months.

What were your takeaways?

Chapter Questions

Some good questions to pick and choose from.  Any you’d add to your daily reflection questions?

Wrapping up:  The First 90 Days Book Club

That's it for Chapter 9.  We'll skip Chapter 10 - it's aimed at HR.  Worth a look, but I've nothing to recommend.     

Not quite finished though.  Next week I’ll do a short summary on how to use what we’ve learned and wrap up our Book Club Series.