New Leader 101 Lesson 4 What to Do Your First Day on the Job as New Leader

What to Do Your First Day on the Job You’ve been waiting for this day for a long time You’re probably nervous, but also excited Will I do a good job? Will my people like me? Will I get along with my boss? What is it going to be like? I hope I don’t screw it up! The anxiety is normal, but preparation is the best antidote

Your First Day “To Do” List 1.Make every effort to walk around and meet as many people as possible 2.Tell people who you are, including a little bit about your family and hobbies 3.Don’t ask too many questions 4.Listen to people carefully 5.Seek to understand what they think is needed to get the job done well Overall objective: begin to establish a positive, trusting relationship with the people that work for you

Bonus Chart: Making Your First Meeting Count Here’s what people are thinking: Who is this person? Is this someone I will be able to get along with? What are his/her expectations? Where does s/he want to take us? Is this someone I can work for? First Meeting Objective: to start to answer the above questions as clearly as you can

Bonus Chart (cont’d): Making Your First Meeting Count Considerations: Figure out when and where you want to hold your meeting Make it inclusive Your Suggested Agenda: Introduce yourself, tell people who you are Talk about your leadership approach: why you chose to lead, your definition of leadership, and your leadership philosophy Give people an idea of where you want to go Take questions. If you don’t know the answer get back to them quickly Other Keys: Spend time putting your presentation together Practice your delivery Be genuine

Summary Your first day on the job is a significant event for you and your people: make it count They will want to know who you are, what you stand for, your expectations, and where you want to take them Hold a meeting or series of meetings so that you can communicate this as well as your leadership approach Listen well It’s all about building positive, genuine, productive relationships right from the get go

Homework Answer the following questions: 1.Have you done a “first day walk around”? If you have, how did it go? If you haven’t what would you do? 2.Even if it’s not your first day on the job, put together a meeting agenda as if it were. What would you say? 3.Where would you hold that meeting? 4.Have the meeting.