With 90 days into a new job, I realized that I took for granted a crucial aspect of what I had established in my prior role. I had planned for the need to learn new terminology, different technical knowledge, and overall, cultural shift. What I had not planned for was the intangible element of what I stand for with others.
- Time to redevelop respect.
- Building and gaining trust.
- Having prior success help establish future success.
As a leader, I value each of these elements for myself and those that I work with in the team. I know instinctively how important each is to building a reputation for others to rely upon. What I missed was the time that it takes to build this foundation again in a new environment. I’m currently in the middle of reestablishing my worth and it’s challenging when dealing with a fast paced environment. I see the needed changes, but can’t seem to move fast enough. There’s a balancing act of showing that I see the current circumstances without being an outsider coming in to change it all without understanding what’s been a part of the team for so long.
I don’t doubt that time will show the right path, but having been with an organization for so long, I forgot the uphill climb to establish rapport and patience that the team requires. Helping establish success with new ideas and approaches take a level of trust and leap of faith when the prior successes aren’t known.
Here’s how I’m adjusting to establishing respect, trust and success in a new role:
- One on one conversations with all my employees. I want to ensure they know that I am hearing and listening to what they have dealt with and continue to see as challenges for the department. As I capture what they see and learn about them, I am better able to serve their needs and help establish an environment that makes all our work easier.
- Follow Up with concerns and issues. There are typically more issues than time available to tackle. Communication is the key element to helping build knowledge, fix problems, and share with employees what is being addressed. Between time, money, and project based fixes, it’s almost impossible to address all concerns at once, but as long as the communication is sharing what is being addressed, everyone can see that movement is being made.
- Patience. Being patient with self and taking it one step at a time is critical to driving forward. In time with small successes along the way, respect, trust and success will come. I just have to remember that hard work and determination to take one small step at a time will lead to reestablishing those strong connections with the new team.
This new beginning brought an unexpected reality that starting over can be daunting. Trust, respect, and success are important areas of life that I’ve worked hard to establish. With time, they will emerge, but reestablishing a high level of each takes work and dedication. It’s a small, but significant aspect of going to a new job or place in one’s life. I look forward to the moment when I can feel that I’ve achieved each, which will come, but sure is an awakening to the patience needed to achieve once more in a new environment.