If you’re just joining our Book Club series, you’ll want to start here.
Welcome back.
Ready for Chapter 2?
Let’s talk about learning.
As a leader, you’re always in learning mode. But the first few months of a new job is learning on steroids. So creating a learning plan makes sense, right? Something to guide your attention and ensure you don’t miss critical issues.
Have you used one before? If not, no worries. You've made many successful transitions, so you’ve got the learning thing figured out. This time you’re going to write it down. How clever.
““When a new leader derails, failure to learn effectively is almost always a factor.” ”
So what’s a learning plan? In a nutshell, it’s what to learn and how to learn it. Which you then prioritize and schedule. Voila.
This chapter has a complex take on learning plans. In my work with leaders, we keep it as simple as possible. So capture the ideas that work for you in Chapter 2. And revisit later if your learning plan needs a boost.
Here’s what stood out for me this week:
The Action Imperative
This is a mistake I’ve seen leaders make. Have you?
The Action Imperative is the “nearly compulsive need to take action” discussed on p. 49.
The point I thought most important is this:
“And the the pressure to “do” almost always comes more from inside the leader than from outside forces; it reflects a lack of confidence and a consequent need to prove yourself.” (p. 49.)
What a relief! You have the time to figure it all out. Take it. A simple learning plan will help.
Past / Present / Future
This section is brilliant. (p.51-53). It’s comprehensive of course. So use the categories, select relevant questions and you’ll have a simple tool to use in those first few weeks/months.
Think of this as v 1.0. Over time add/modify/delete to make this list your own. This will serve you well.
The Team as Teacher
One of your best resources is your team. P. 57 has some great questions to ask in your one-on-one meetings. My favourite question is the last one “If you were me, what would you focus your attention on?”. If you’ve got a reasonably good team, they can help you accelerate your learning in a dozen ways or more.
Shadow Organization
Something every leader should understand, don’t you think? Get this right and you’ll bypass many of the obstacles that derail new leaders.
Chris
Another great case study. Love these. There are many takeaways…….here are a couple:
Mr. Fix-it: Oh Chris. Why? You come into a new organization and can not BELIEVE what a mess things are. “But I’m here now….. I’ll fix it”. From the get-go, Chris doesn’t ask, doesn’t learn and doesn’t show respect for his team and their efforts.
Feedback (boss): Turns out Chris is a good guy, just needed a little feedback to help him course correct. So why did it take 2 months for his boss to weigh in? I know it’s me beating the drum again, but seriously!! Think how many problems a little well-timed, constructive feedback would prevent.
What were your takeaways?
CONCLUSION
This chapter introduces learning and highlights its importance for a successful transition. There are a lot of tools, questions and concepts for you to use when creating your own learning plan.
Your transition is all learning all the time, so keep it simple. Defer when you can.
That’s it for Chapter 2…… next week Chapter 3.
