If you’re just joining our Book Club series, you’ll want to start here.
Welcome back.
Chapter 1 today.
The best way I’ve found to approach this chapter is to read it as an overview. Most topics are covered in detail later in the book.
Here’s how I’d use the information when working with a client.
Promotions & New Job
Have a read through both, even if they don’t apply to your situation. It’s just great information.
The key point for promotions is that you’ll be “levelling up” your skills. The specifics of which skills and how to do that will be in upcoming chapters.
The onboarding checklist (p.40) is worth a read. There may be a couple of questions you'd like to answer now. But..... you guessed it .....we’ll cover this in each of the chapter ahead.
Culture
This section is thorough, but a bit abstract.
Comparing cultures is an easy way to understand them. Sometimes the corporate cultures are worlds apart, like Google vs Goldman Sachs. Other times the differences are more subtle like Encana vs. Suncor. Differences to be sure, but not as distinct.
Getting culture wrong is a top transition trap for new leaders. So more in chapters to follow of course.
Problem Preference
This is such a valuable way of organizing the problems you’ll be tackling in your new role.
For most leaders I work with, technical is far and away their problem preference. And that makes perfect sense. It’s what they’ve been learning and improving on for years. It’s been their priority. But priorities change. With each promotion the ratios between technical, political and cultural change too.
As you climb the corporate ladder, you'll spend less of your time solving technical problems. And an increasing amount on cultural/political problems as show in the graph below.
Problem Preference Chart
So …..are your ratio’s changing with this new position? If so, what’s your new breakdown look like? Your best guess is precise enough.
Table 1-2 (p. 41) gives some specifics. It’s worth a look even if the tasks they list don’t relate to your new role. You could insert your top challenges in place of those listed. Then work through the exercise and see what it tells you.
This framework can help in a dozen ways and we’ll apply it to specific challenges later in the book.
Breakpoint
For those of you who are moving jobs within the same company, the breakpoint exercise (p. 40) may be helpful. Especially if you’re in the same building. Those drop-by requests for help can be a real time suck. And the emails! You’ll need every spare minute you can find in those first few weeks. Protect your time.
Watch out for your Strengths
You’ve seen this happen, right? It’s not uncommon. Especially during times of stress. And the first few months of a new job are the very definition of stress.
It’s normal to want to stay in your comfort zone. But that’s not where success lies. So awareness for now. More to come.
Julia & David
I like case studies. They highlight mistakes in such a clear way. There are a number of great takeaways in these stories. Here are a few.
Julia:
Feedback (boss): Julia, like all leaders, needs feedback to course correct. Especially in those first few months. Where the heck was her boss? Feedback is your friend. I’ll beat this like a drum thru the rest of the book.
Watch out for your strengths: Julia wasn’t aware or prepared for the need to “level up” her skill set. And it was her downfall.
Feedback (team): Feedback from Julia's team surprised her …. And not in a good way. She missed a huge opportunity to learn and course correct. Feedback is your friend….. Here’s me beating the drum again!
David:
New culture: Not only did David skip right over the whole “learn the culture” thing, he viewed the new company’s culture as inferior. That’s never a good start.
It's all about the execution: David was able to quickly diagnose the problems and come up with solutions. Which is great. However, he seemed unprepared for the intangibles that impact every change initiative I've witnessed. Resistance to change, navigating the political hurdles, change fatigue ...... it can be a lengthy list. But predictable.
What were your takeaways?
Conclusion
This is a comprehensive chapter. There are a number of great concepts to use. Most are sprinkled through the upcoming chapters, so we’ll make good use of them soon.
To ensure we don’t miss anything critical, we’ll circle back at the end of the series and do a quick review. To make that easier, highlight the concepts you want to revisit and have your notes easy to access.
That’s it for Chapter 1…… next week Chapter 2.
