Almost every leader will encounter the opportunity to lead a new team at some point in their career, whether it’s a group of new hires or an established team of seasoned employees. Leading a new team can be extremely challenging as you navigate the relationship-building process and introduce ways to improve the team. Many tenured teams have well-established interpersonal relationships and customs that can be intimidating to new leaders. However, it can also be extremely rewarding. The opportunity to build a high-performing team from the ground up or to improve the results of an existing team is an excellent learning experience and a great resume item. In this article, we’ll focus on leading a team of tenured employees, and how to make a great first impression and build a strong relationship with them.
First impressions are indeed important, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your initial meeting with a new team will be your only chance to make a good one. Many people need multiple interactions with someone to fully form their opinion. Your “first impression” to your new team will depend on the first few things you do and the behaviors you demonstrate over some time. Most people understand there is a learning curve to almost any new job, so they will likely give you some grace while you acclimate. Don’t stress too much, but it’s important to focus on your approach. During my time working for Starbucks as a supervisor, I worked at 11 different locations over five years. I would spend an average of 5-6 months at each store before moving to the next one. During that time, I learned a great deal about how to adapt my approach and leadership style to fit each situation and store. I found success each time I moved by focusing on these four major principles.
1- Be Genuine
Being genuine means being truthful and sincere in your words and actions. This is paramount when building trust with a new team. Remember that a team new to you doesn’t know you. They likely haven’t seen how you work or witnessed any of your proud achievements. You need to prove your trustworthiness by being honest and sincere in your approach. Part of being genuine is demonstrating that you care about others. Employees want to feel like their leader cares about them and will often work harder and produce more for someone they think has a genuine interest in them. According to author and organizational consultant Trina Hoefling in her book Working Virtually: Transforming the Mobile Workplace, up to 50% of workers don’t feel valued by their leaders or organizations. Spend some time thinking about how you can show that you genuinely value them and care about their success. You can even be as direct as asking them what caring looks like to them and what actions you can take to ensure they feel supported and valued. If employees, especially those new to working with you, don’t see you as genuine, you risk your relationships and trust with them dissolving. This will almost certainly lead to decreased performance, low morale, and even the loss of top-performing and knowledgeable talent.
2- Give Them Your Time
Be available for your new team and show that they can count on your support when they need it, even if they don’t explicitly ask for it. During my time working for a popular investment firm, I underwent a change in leadership, and my new leader made it clear that they neither had nor wanted to make time for me. I was still new to the company when this happened and had plenty of growing to do in my role. Receiving responses like “I don’t have time; ask someone else,” or “I only meet with people once a month; save your questions for then,” was devastating. That manager demonstrated that I was not a priority or important, and it resulted in my faith in the company degrading to the point where I decided to resign. It’s important to make time for your team to answer their questions, help with their work, and give them the feedback they need. You can create this time by meeting with your team on a set cadence (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly) or by making yourself available for impromptu meetings. If you truly don’t have time when they ask for it, be sure to communicate when you can make time and prioritize finding that time to dedicate to them.
3- Land Softly
I’ve heard plenty of leaders say that they tend to “lead with a heavy hand,” and I find that approach has more repercussions than benefits. While it’s important to have and uphold certain standards, how you do that will determine how willing your new team is to listen to you and act on your guidance. Landing softly means being patient and understanding of how gaining a new leader may affect your team and allowing them time to acclimate to you. If you notice something in your team’s work that seems incorrect or inefficient, take the time to understand why it is that way and offer suggestions and guidance for improvement rather than forcing them to change. Managing under the notion of “it’s my way or the highway” won’t get you far in most team settings and will disincentivize people from changing or improving. You’ll find that taking a softer and more understanding approach to drive change within a team will not only help you build your relationship with them but will also demonstrate a great deal of emotional intelligence. It shows that you care personally and view yourself as a support system rather than an authoritarian force. It may take some time to fully realize the desired improvements, but once you get through that first experience, leading your team through future changes will be significantly easier and faster.
4- Gain Their Buy-In
Gaining someone’s buy-in means that they have an interest in seeing your vision through. When an employee has bought into your suggestion or idea, they believe it will work and are willing to put it into action. As Justin Goodbread states in his Forbes article Buy-In: 5 Ways to Turn Critics into Advocates, “When you have the buy-in of your employees, they understand their importance and are more likely to be engaged and fully committed to their work.” They are doing something because they want to, not just because they were told to. When leading a team that’s new to you, it’s important to gain their buy-in not only for the ideas you have but also for the way you want to lead them. They must want to follow you to produce their best work. Implementing the previous three principles will help you gain your employees’ buy-in, but another tactic you may want to focus on is explaining the “Why” before the “How.” When you explain the why behind a change or new process, you describe its benefits and how they fit in as a crucial part of the change’s success. People like feeling needed, but they often don’t like feeling ordered to do something. You can also be as direct as asking your team how to gain their buy-in. This can give you great insight into the priorities of your team members, what makes them tick, and what actions you can take to best appeal to them.
Leading a new team is full of challenges as you build relationships and learn how to best work with that team. Teams made up of tenured employees can have complex and well-established interpersonal relationships that bolster the team’s strength. However, those relationships can make leading them feel intimidating at times, and it’s important to understand how to work with them rather than against them. As a new leader, your biggest job is to learn how to best support your team and make them feel as though they can depend on you. Remember that your very first interaction with a new team isn’t the only factor in your “first impression.” You’ve got to put effort and thought into the first multiple interactions and demonstrate your capabilities as a good leader. The next time you find yourself leading a team that is new to you, reflect on these four principles and how they align with your own leadership style. In no time, you’ll gain the trust of your team and it’ll feel as if you’ve been working with them for years!
Featured image by Campaign-Creators on Unsplash
References:
Goodbread, Justin. “Council Post: Employee Buy-in: 5 Ways to Turn Critics into Advocates.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 23 Oct. 2022, http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2022/10/21/employee-buy-in-5-ways-to-turn-critics-into-advocates/.
Hoefling, Trina. Working Virtually : Transforming the Mobile Workplace, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asulib-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4821781.
Created from asulib-ebooks on 2024-07-02 16:39:56.
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