First 100 Days: how to get buy in from a new team

I’m sure you’ve all read countless ‘how to’s telling you what to do and not do when you’re about to join, or lead, a new team.

It’s a particular circumstance, joining a 160 year old company, as the first CEO. The night before starting at Hodges, I went over all the books I had read before on leading and inspiring people at work.

Here are the key things I’ve learned during my first six months at Hodges. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Listen, Listen, Listen.

When I was appointed CEO, the first thing I needed to do was to understand the business. It is Victoria’s longest standing residential real estate agency, with over 160 years already under its belt. It would be ill-advised to make significant changes without first learning from those at the company who had shaped it to be what it is now.

It was important to gain an understanding of the inner workings of the company in order to smoothly step into the CEO role as a new addition to the team. Like a personality, the inner workings of every company varies greatly between them.  

Much of my first six weeks as CEO was spent on the road, getting face time with every franchisee to understand what they each needed.

During the first 100 hundred days, I connected with franchisees to develop a deep understanding of where each office flourished and what they required to build their individual businesses.

Don’t shy away from challenges.

In order to effectively improve a business, a CEO must grow an understanding of the company’s challenges. I needed to know immediately what issues the business was potentially facing, which meant asking some tough questions.

This meant uncovering the facets of the business that operated less efficiently, both within individual offices and throughout the agency as a whole. It was important during these first few months that I didn’t shy away from the potential problem areas within the business. Rather, a business’ progress relies on facing these head on and challenging any sugar-coated or positively spun answers.

Demonstrate action

Ultimately it is your actions, not words, that dictate how others view you.  

If a leader is all words and no action, this can lead to distrust and reluctance to take on new ideas. You need buy-in from team members to contribute to the future success of the company, so it’s important to be able to trust one another.

In uncovering the key challenges to address, I then had to take decisive action. A new CEO who spends their time uncovering and discussing problem areas within the company without taking demonstrable action to rectify these problems is generally not well received within the company. I needed to look at changes that could positively impact the business in the immediate and midterm future, whilst delivering a robust, long-term strategy.

We’ll be announcing an exciting and major change in a few weeks. From this one franchisee told me, “You’ve done more on that project than we’ve seen in years.” This made it a landmark moment for me.

Set the team up for financial success

Numerous studies and personal experience tells us people are motivated by a variety of factors and seldom are they solely financial. What works to motivate one may not work with another, and my role is not to dictate that; rather to discover what inspires the team to deliver their best work.

Within the first three months of my appointment, I implemented the Hodges Future Fund to deliver financial security to those who wanted to opt in to a financial incentive. The Future Fund delivers $100 to each agent for every sale they make. This can then be used to buy into an office of their own in the future.

Already we’re seeing the benefits of working with our team to deliver personalised incentives.

By mentally and financially empowering our people, I’m discovering what really matters to them. At the end of the day, that’s what motivates me: making a direct impact into our people’s lives.