One of the places the A.R.E. team provides assistance to people is in transitions as they take on a new role. A new bishop takes office and wants help. A pastor starts work in a new position and wants to be sure to get off on the right foot. An entrepreneur is starting a new business and wants to make a splash. A school system is rerooting its programs in an urban school district and wants to develop a new culture. We provide coaching and consultation situations like these and always the question is the same: How can I get started and make a real difference in this new role?
The January 2009 edition of the Harvard Business Review has a great piece on getting started with a splash. In “The Paradox of Quick Wins” Mike Van Buren and Todd Safferstone walk us through the risks and the rewards of going for a big win early. They urge leaders in new settings to try to make an impact early. It can get credibility and notice – collateral for future work.
But you also have to be careful. While a win can be a springboard to longer term impact a failure can mean having to climb out of a deep hole just to get back to where you started. You shouldn’t be paralyzed by the fact that there is risk. But you should count the cost and start well.
First, there are traps to avoid. You want to do well. You don’t want to make a mistake. So there is a tendency to do one or more of these five things:
- Focus too heavily on details,
- React negatively to criticism,
- Intimidate others,
- Jump to hasty conclusions,
- Micromanage those who report to you.
Spend too much time doing any of these and your first win will be a ticking bomb as those who work with you will be ineffective and alienated by your rush to succeed and your inability ask good questions and use participative processes. At the same time, Van Buren and Safferstone include a checklist to help you think about whether a project is a good risk and could provide a helpful quick win – both for you as a new leader and for the organization or company with whom you work.
They provide a list of ten purposeful questions you should ask to help you weigh whether this is something you should go for right now. We won’t list all the questions here but they fall into five key areas they identify (issues explored in the longer questions are listed in parentheses):
- Value (urgency and recognition)
- Cost and feasibility (distractions and available resources)
- Collective impact (team member impact and team pride)
- Opportunity to learn (orienting you to your new team and team dynamics)
- Opportunity to engage (team member input and peer/management input)
If you can avoid the pitfalls and traps that often plague us when we want to make a good impression on our first big project in a new place you can and should do amazing things early in your new role. And if you can weigh the issues to help measure the benefits of the ideas you are considering, your odds of having a high impact, early win go way up.
We’d recommend checking out the whole article if you’re intrigued. Consider getting a coach to help you process these new ideas if good questions and a partner for reflecting help you produce your best ideas and your best work!
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