Page 45 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

30 Just Promoted!

to learn the organization, and the work needs to continue. You must stress
that we, as an organization, need to assess how good we are and where we
need to improve.
Finally, tell them, “I am here to listen and better understand where we are
and how we need to grow. With the active help of everyone in the organiza-
tion, we’ll build a stronger, better organization.”
Before adjourning, ask for questions, but keep your answers succinct and
general. Don’t get into the details of the organizational analysis. Indicate that
over the next few weeks, you will meet and talk with everyone. Thank the staff
for their warm welcome.

From I to We and Our
Your staff will have two fundamental concerns as you assume leadership:
inclusion and control. By inclusion, we mean that employees will be wonder-
ing if they’ll remain in their present jobs and maintain their primary work
assignments. By control, we mean that they’ll be hoping to have some say in
what happens to them, and they’ll be wondering how much input they will
have in what happens to the department or work unit. Even at the first intro-
ductory meeting, you can address those concerns briefly. Although people may
assume you will not announce any immediate changes, they need to be reas-
sured that this is the case, at least in the short term.
A more important purpose of this meeting is to encourage the group to
think collegially. Shift the group’s perception away from you: “What is he
going to do?” Focus on them: “What are we going to do?” Minimize the word
I in your talk, and emphasize we and our: our effort, our department, our team,
and our goals. Emphasize that “our department will only be as strong as we
work to make it strong” and that “we will build on our individual, group, and
organizational strengths.” The sooner you can enlist your staff’s support, the
more success there will be for everyone.

The Unsuccessful Candidates
Meet individually with the job candidates within your function who were not
selected. They can affect your future performance. Some will take the fact that
they were not selected personally, and they will keenly feel disappointment,
anger, and a sense of rejection or failure. Put yourself in their shoes. Acknowl-
edge their feelings. At the same time, remember that they cannot let those feel-
ings interfere with their responsibilities.