Questions a new leader should ask in their first months in the job...

Nearing the end of my first week in a new leadership role, I am aware of my need to listen to others. As I enter this new and vibrant organisation, in a new field, who have active participants all over the country and overseas networks too, I have much to learn.

To help me in my learning and listening to all of the people who are involved in this organisation, over the summer I have been gathering a long-list of questions to ask when entering any new organisation. Some of them have come from previous colleagues, mentors, my old MBA texts and some just from plain old previous-experience.

Which of these questions speaks to you most? And what different questions would you ask your closest stakeholders when starting a new senior management position? 

Questions for close stakeholders

External change*:

1.      Why are we needed? What needs to change?

2.      Who, ultimately, needs to think or do what differently for that change to come about?

3.      What is stopping these people from thinking or doing differently right now – what are the barriers to change?

4.      What are the factors that augment or diminish these barriers, and which are the most important to address?

5.      Which barriers are we best placed to make a contribution to tackling, given the range of actors involved?

*credit to Jim Coe and Rhonda Schlangen for most of these questions, adapted from their paper, No Royal Road, exploring the tension between advocacy and advocacy evaluation. https://www.evaluationinnovation.org/publication/no-royal-road-finding-and-following-the-natural-pathways-in-advocacy-evaluation/

Challenges

6.     What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the organisation?

7.     Why are we facing these challenges?

Opportunities:

8.     What are the best opportunities and untapped assets we can use to address them?

9.  How do you think we should make the most of these opportunities?

Potential tensions and creativity:

10.  How can we hold all of the benefits and tensions of this organisation? Including: a range of stakeholders, a vibrant volunteer base, a committed trustee board, expert stakeholders, an increasing range of audiences and a growing staff team?

11.  What do you imagine it will be like for this organisation to grow, amid the context of biodiversity loss and climate change?

12.  How can we provide leadership on action for climate change, and still achieve our goals?

13. What role do you imagine new funders will take in the future of the organisation and how will this complement or contrast with other stakeholders?

14.  How can we strengthen and sustain our positional advantage, while growing our impact and income?

Focus:

15.  What is the main purpose of this organisation? What is the one thing we’re organising around?

16.  What do you think my primary focus should be in the short term (6 months) and long term (3 years)?

17.  What are the major concerns that need to be addressed immediately?

Changes internally:

18.  Can you describe the changes happening at here over the last 12 months?

19.  Could you describe the aims of these changes?

20.  Do you think the reasons for these changes are shared and understood?

External stakeholders:

21.  Who do we need to align with?

22.  Who do we need to avoid?

History:

23.  How do you understand that this all began for this organisation– what is our story?

24.  How do you think the organisation has performed in the past?

25.  How would you describe the broad and recent strategy of the organisation up until this year?

26.  What measures of success were used in the past?

27.  What tactics and operational plans have been most and least effective?

28.  What behaviours to reach success were encouraged or discouraged?

Your role:

29.  What has been your experience here?

30.  How does your role contribute to the main purpose of the organisation?

Practicalities:

31.  What method of communication do you prefer?

Other:

32.  Is there anything else you think I should know …?

With thanks also to Kate Shurety at the Campaign to End Loneliness, Katherine Rake at Lucent, and David Naylor at the King’s Fund for thinking time that contributed to the development of some of these latter questions.