The change agent's dilemma

It's been a minute. In fact it's a whole new year now. I have noodled on a variety of things to write about—and there's much to say, much more to say, but I am not ready to say some of it yet. For now, I return to the previous topic on trust giving, and specifically about the trust "cold start" problem for people who are hired as change agents.

Earlier in my career, if you'd told me that I'd end up not only thriving in, but enjoy roles that require me to create, drive, and manage change, I would have simply smiled uncomfortably and disappeared. I spoke a little bit about my childhood and background as an immigrant, and that meant a big part of my life has been trying to figure out how to fit into the existing systems, structures, and expectations of me as an individual. Rocking the boat and creating changes wasn't even an option for the first half of my life, because I needed to figure out how to exist in my context.

My "growth spurt" as a professional—and the transformation to someone who loves and creates changes—happened at YouTube, where I got to be a part of the business on an insane growth path, having landed a job there at a time when we were figuring out a lot of "never been done before's." And do that again, again, and again. The job I said yes to literally changed within 3 days of my arrival, and it never stopped changing. I really questioned (and others did, too) whether or not I was going to make it through. I thought I was a smart enough person, having gotten the job, but everything about it was new and hard. During this time, two things helped me a great deal: first, knowing who can help ground you, whether it be your spouse, friend, someone at work, a coach. Secondly, and only when I was able to ground myself in who I am and what I knew to be capable, I could focus on what I needed to learn and figure out because it was new to me or to everyone around me. The grounding made it easier to discern between signal vs. noise when feedback or opinions came through, and put me into the mindset of someone who was in charge of her own destiny. I learned not to let the movement of my work shake my confidence or perspectives, and instead, started running with the rhythm of the business.

In fact, the reason I left YouTube was to use everything I learned there to another place and see if I could create change and build something from ground up. The classic "be the change you want to see in the world." I got to do it at Visible, and now I get to do it at LinkedIn. My ears now perk up when someone says "it's never been done before" or "there is no playbook for this" or "what got us here won't get us there." I want to be the person who can create waves, the positive changes, systematic, structural, paradigm shifting changes for the better.

But where, and how, does one get started when you join a new team, organization, a business, and begin with a trust deficit? It's hard enough building the case and momentum for change even when you've been somewhere for a while. And it takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there in an environment that doesn't know you yet. I talked about trust giving as something the organization can do to support its new employees, and the same is ever more true for anyone specifically hired to help drive change. My advice to anyone in that position is to embrace that role you've been cast into as quickly as possible. It's scary and perhaps even counterintuitive. Ground yourself in who you are and what you are capable of, and from day one, intentionally spend every minute doing the job you were hired to do. Everyday is an opportunity to learn and assess what's here today, so as to design and seed the future you want to build. Spend less time worrying about trying to make an impression, and spend more time showing your new colleagues who you are and what you are about through your point of view, decisions, and actions.

Last but not least, being a change agent, by design, means you're different. You stand out. You will naturally run up against more no's than yes's before you get to a swelling movement of yes's that builds around your ideas. No one is immune to hearing more no's than yes's—and let's not forget not all no's are explicitly spelled out—and what that might do to your energy. That requires you to invest deliberate and intentional time and space to invest in yourself to be resilient. Articulate how others can help and support you. Asking for help doesn't mean you are weak or that it leaves you exposed. In fact, asking for help is the greatest secret to getting someone invested in you and your work—the multiplier every change agent needs to create impact at scale.