New to the team? Here’s what you and minute 63 of your fave movie have in common…

The next time you join a new team, become part of a new organization, or inherit a project that has been underway for months—think about this.?You are walking in halfway through the movie.?Literally.

Imagine watching The Hunger Games for the first time and tuning in at minute 63, and seeing Katniss pointing her arrow at a small child.?How could your brain possibly make sense of the madness??

You have no context.?You have no background knowledge. ?You don’t know the characters or have any sense of the plot, much less the narrative arc.?You’re coming in cold, while everyone around you has the benefit of having been there since the opening scenes—where the stage was set, the players identified, the goals agreed upon—in this case, the tributes chosen.?

And of course, there’s been a ton of information and learning along the way—ups and down and setbacks and successes.?But you don’t know any of that, because you’re new.

* * * * * *

I’ll never forget the first time I worked on a second transaction for a Wall Street client.??It was as if the skies had parted.?I had already worked on the first transaction.?I knew the players (i.e., the management team). I knew the client’s business.?I understood the product and service lines.?I had done this before (shakily), but this next one was a piece of cake (comparatively). I was about a thousand percent better in my role the second time around.??

Which is to say– when you are new to a team, or the first time you do anything: there are three things you must do:

1. Give yourself grace
2. Have the confidence to ask for help
3. Have the courage to ask for feedback

1. Give yourself grace

I know you.?You are motivated, talented, ambitious.?You care deeply about what you do and for the people you work with.??Being new gives you this bizarre sensation of being off-balance.?Of not being on solid ground—much less on top of your game.?How could it not?

Lean into that discomfort and recognize it.??Give yourself some slack and recognize that it takes time to get up to speed, to learn about the plot and the players, to build relationships so that you can begin to drive outcomes.??Remind yourself, when you’re new to the team, that everyone else has been watching this movie since minute one.??You’ll understand everything soon enough. ?But you’re going to need some context, and that takes time, effort and intention.

2. Have the confidence to ask for help ?

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.?Au contraire mon ami.?It’s a sign of strength. As a leader, asking for help shows self-awareness and a commitment to continued learning and development. ??

The irony, of course, is that the reason we don’t ask for help is that we’re afraid of looking dumb.?And yet, what are the chances you knock it out of the park and exceed the team’s (or your boss’ or board of directors’) expectations without getting help along the way??Let’s go with slim to none.

You should never (and would never) frame the ask as:?I don’t know anything about anything, please help… but be targeted and specific.?Ask for help so that you can speed up the process of getting up to speed.

3. Have the courage to ask for feedback

We all know that we should ask for feedback regularly, but it still takes steeling ourselves sometimes.?And when we’re new, we may feel that we’re not ready for feedback yet. ?But if you start the habit early, and message to the team that you genuinely care about continuous improvement, you’ll be surprised by how much learning and growth you can achieve quickly.?

Why wait six months before asking others how you’re doing??Imagine front-loading all of that along-the-way learning. ??When you’re not yet at the level of performance yet that you know you can and will be—revert to step 1 and give yourself some grace.??And then keep asking—for help and feedback along the way.

YOUR TURN
         

Have you joined a new team recently??Do you feel like you’re coming in half-way through the movie??What strategies have you used to learn about the task at hand, contribute to outcomes and/or drive impact??Share them with me HERE

MY STORY
        

Check out a quick video HERE where I share my latest real-time insights on joining the (well-established) team at Kellogg as Prof Glickman.

THANK YOU
        

And a huge thank you to all of our readers who sent in submissions last week. Special shout out to @amy @brian and @dianne for your stand out stories. More to come for all three of you...