Integrating into a new role can sometimes be difficult and is often the most challenging area in the professional life of a leader. The success or failure you create during the first few months is a strong prediction for your future overall success in the job.
Think about a time when you may have started a new position only to realize after a few months that maybe this was not the right career change for you.
What went wrong?
The answer is never totally black or white. There may be both internal and external reasons why something goes wrong but sometimes we have unconsciously fallen into one or more of common “Integration Traps”.
In career or job changes we may have tried new things, made mistakes, corrected some and ultimately got the wins we needed to reach success.
But what if what worked for you in the past doesn’t work in your next job?
Here is a list of common mistakes we make when starting a new job. I urge you to consider them, think about your own previous experiences and how you can avoid these traps in the future.
- Stick with what you know
You believe you will be successful in the new role by doing the same things you did in your previous role, only more so. You fail to see that success in the new role requires you to stop doing some things and to embrace new competencies.
- Fall prey to the “action imperative”
You feel as if you need to take action, you try too hard and too early to put your own stamp on the organization. You are too busy to learn, you make bad decisions and catalyze resistance to your initiatives.
- 3. Set unrealistic expectations
You don’t negotiate your mandate or establish clear, achievable objectives. You may perform well but still fail to meet the expectations of your boss and other key stakeholders.
- Attempt to do too much
You rush off in all directions, launching multiple initiatives in the hope that some will pay off. People become confused and no critical mass of resources gets focused on key initiatives.
- Come with “the” answer
You come in with your mind made up or you reach conclusions too quickly about “the” problems and “the” solutions. You alienate people who could help you understand what is going on, and you squander opportunities to develop support for good solutions.
- Engage in the wrong type of learning
You spend too much time focused on learning about the technical part of the business and not enough about the cultural and political dimensions of your new role. You don’t build the cultural insight, relationships, and information channels you need if you are to understand what is really going on.
- Neglect horizontal relationships
You spend too much time focused on vertical relationships – up to the boss and down to direct reports – and not on peers and other stakeholders. You don’t fully understand what it will take to succeed, and you miss early opportunities to build supportive alliances.
Now that you have read the list of the most common integration traps do you recognize any of them? Have you fallen into any of them? Personally I have a tendency to “fall prey to the action imperative”. I’m working on taking things slower and be more open and reflective over new tasks while avoiding action paralysis.
Let me know which trap or traps you have a tendency to fall into and until next time …
Be Bold, Be Courageous and BE BRILLIANT!