The First 30 with a New Team as a Non Native Speaker CEO and Leader

In the first 30 days you have the most influence over your team thinks and acts. It shapes its future actions and its way of communicating and interacting. And YOU, even as a Non Native Speaker CEO and Leader handling a multicultural team you can bring excitement and alignment with a thoughtful communication plan. And here it is a 30 day plan cultivating a growth and inclusion mindset.

The first 5 days: Ignite your Team's Vision

Welcome your Team: Tell your personal Story introducing yourself as Leader expressing your full enthusiasm and communicating your commitment to partner with your team for its success.

State the team's purpose and vision: clearly articulate its goals, mission and how it aligns with the vision of the organisation.

Articulate a culture open to inclusion, diversity and positive language.

Team introductions: Allow and facilitate space to introduction of each team member. Encourage them to share their stories: expertise, background, skills, aspirations and vision.

Support them to partner up with a common vision aligning with their individual vision.

Set expectations: discuss team norms, ground rules and performance expectations to establish a share understanding of how the team will operate, act and interact.

Give a name to your team: it gives them a feeling of inclusion: Legends, Innovators, The Big League, The Deciders, The Visionaries, The Wizards of Wealth.

Days 6 to 10: Building Unbreakable Connections

Foster open communication: Encourage your team members to share their thoughts, ideas and goals. Try to include everyone even those who might think that they are not an important pillar in your team or think that their ideas are not so relevant.

Address any cultural issue or communication misunderstanding raised from the diversity of your team.

Develop relationships: Organise team building activities or going outs. It does not have to be for a few days in a row or a full weekend. You may invite them to a barbecue dinner organised at your place bringing also their families. They have the chance to discover that you are one of them and you also build trust. Or include team lunches, social events or a Friday Casual Ice Breaker Activity.

Encourage collaboration: Promote collaborative work by assigning team projects or task that requires team members to work together and leverage their strengths. Encourage them to understand and accept each other's passion, ideas and genius. Despite their communication level. Build upon a growth mindset and an ongoing learning environment.

Days 11 - 15: Roles that shape Destiny

Define roles: Clearly emphasise each member's role, responsibilities and area of expertise. State that there is a mutual understanding of how each role contributes to the team's overall success.

Align goals: Collaboratively set individual and common goals and align them. In a specific, achievable, measurable and time bound manner, but also merging with your team purpose.

Days 16 to 20: The learning and Mastery Space

Together with your HR and Learning&Development team, Identify the training needs: assess skills, technics and knowledge gaps with team. In a multicultural team, besides skills, technics, cultural, inclusion or communication trainings might be required. Identify training opportunities where every team member can grow and develop.

Provide real, authentic and relevant learning opportunities: Set up workshops, webinars or seminars to develop specific skills relevant for the learning purposes and identified gaps.

Days 21 to 25: Empower the Leader in Each Team Member

Empower autonomy and delegate authority: Provide team members with autonomy and empower them to make decisions within their areas of responsibility. Trust their judgment and support them when needed.

Encourage innovation: Foster a culture that embraces creativity and innovation. Encourage team members to generate and share new ideas that can improve processes or outcomes.

Days 26 to 30: Feedback that Inspires

Establish a cultural of regular team meetings: Schedule regular team meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and upcoming tasks. Allow team members to provide updates and share their accomplishments. Focus on a positive feedback taking into account the cultural component that might block communication.

Ignite curiosity and creativity by organising these regular meetings in different environments.

Provide feedback and encourage positive feedback between team members: Offer constructive feedback to team members, both individually and as a group. Recognize and acknowledge their efforts and achievements. Address any performance issues promptly and supportively.

Beyond these 30 days, keep reinforcing and pulsing the messages and values.

And remember: each time your Non Native Speaker Lizard Brain takes over and says to you: ”Your Communication is not enough good to run that team!”

”They are native speakers!”

”Your French/English is too flat to empower them!”

”Running that team! It is risky!”

Simply put: the amygdala is there to protect you from predators, but its side effects are fear, uncertainty, and insecurity, as it talks you out of your dreams and makes you stay in your comfort zone.

Paying too much attention to what our lizard brain has to say about your communication, how bad communicator and speaker you are, or how not enough good French or English is, leads to developing a fixed mindset and self-sabotaging behaviour.

Although we depend on the amygdala for our survival and procreation, as rational beings we need to learn when and how to silence it and ignore its input.

Taming down the voice and shifting your mindset and incorporating it in your language and communication is a step forward in leading your team meaningfully and successfully.