1. Prepare in advance
Justine Gillen, started as VP, marketing and customer experience at Informa in August, with a ‘high level plan’ which started on her first day. She prepared a presentation for the first day to talk about herself and what she believes in. This helped her express her values and how they align with the company’s, in both her personal and work life. “I believe you get out of life what you put in. I wanted people to know what they’re getting as a person and what they can expect as a result,” she says
2. Establish your intentions
The first few days of any new role will always be a challenge, as you try to absorb as much information as possible while laying the foundation for what you hope to achieve.
Sarah Donnelly, who joined Axelos Global Best Practice as global marketing communications director in April found out both the head of marketing and her boss were leaving, and a large restructure was announced. This meant her plans went out of the window.
“I thought ‘I’m cursed’, but then I realised it’s a massive opportunity,” she says. “Any change brings opportunity. As a leader you have to think this way – and don’t take things personally.”
3. Build internal relationships
“In the first couple of weeks I just talked to as many people as possible,” says Helena Belcher, who took over as director of marketing and communications at Sponge UK in March. Helena says it was important to ask not just her team, but the whole business the same two questions: Why do you think our clients buy from us? And what do you like about working here? This allowed her to understand some common themes and establish herself as an open and honest communicator.
4. Bank some quick wins
Once you’ve set the scene, it’s important to show the positive difference you’ll make early on. Whether the business is going through significant change, or you’re looking to change established ways of working, the first month is a good time to ruffle some feathers.
Justine was very clear about what she wanted to achieve straight away at Informa. “I hired two people, changed some messaging, improved our immediate connection with customers, how we work with sales and how we plan as a business. I made all those changes for immediate impact.”
People respect clarity of vision and knowing what’s expected of them, she adds. Putting in some quick wins makes your style of leadership clear.
5. Look for simple changes that make a big difference…
“Even just gathering feedback from everyone whenever I had to go into the executive leadership team meant marketing was represented and heard in a way it wasn’t before,” Sarah says. “As simple a thing as setting up a weekly team meeting and asking them to take turns chairing it had an impact.”
She suggests small changes to enhance team morale and cohesion are best. Where people tended to go off on tangents in the weekly meeting, Sarah said a friendly reminder – someone shouting the word ‘jellyfish’, for example – helped keep everyone on track..
6. ..But don’t be afraid to tackle the big issues
Quick wins aren’t necessarily insignificant. Helena identified her marketing team were sales-driven, rather than setting their own agenda. Creating a plan of activities for them to work on was an easy way to challenge the status quo. Beyond this, championing her team members through a weekly debrief to the managing director fuelled positivity and helped build visibility across the business. She also started the first few weeks with all her team members reporting directly to her, to learn about each person’s role and making it clear she was there to share with.
7. Get your team onside
The unanimous way to do this is simple: listen to them.
Understand what your team’s objectives are, what their motivations are, and where they see themselves in their career. By giving them the space to be understood, she says, you can show them you’re on their side, says Sarah.
She also has another tactic for winning over challenging members of the team. “I said we’re going to the pub and we’re going to work out why we’re not getting along because we should. It turns out we’re exactly the same person, and they’re onboard now.”
8. Challenge ‘why’ things are done
For Sarah, being new meant the ability to push back on accepted norms. “I have to admit for the first two months my sayings were ‘why?’ and ‘so what?’. I said if you can’t articulate the reasoning behind something, we’re not doing it.”
But confronting old ways of working can be done in a beneficial, esteem-building way. Sarah employed the ‘yes, and’ leadership tactic, where instead of responding to suggestions in meetings with ‘no, but’ – which can feel disregarding – you can build on ideas and make people feel they’re being listened to by responding ‘yes, and’.
9. Use positivity to overcome challenges
The power of any good leader is their ability to look on the bright side. It’s easy to get bogged down in the negative when it comes to internal politics. But Justine argues being a new member of the team can be liberating in this respect. “You’re asking questions in a completely neutral information-gathering way. I’m sure I ruffled a few feathers in the beginning, but bringing a fresh pair of eyes to the situation is a strength.”
10. Leave your ego at the door
Although you want to go in and make an impact and pass your probation, you’ve got to go in and show you want to learn about the company and your team, Sarah advises. “Listen to them. Show you care about where they’re coming from.”
