If you’re a new leader, the tone you set early on with your teams can make a huge difference in whether you’re ultimately successful. An initial welcome speech can serve as a good introduction to the team at large, it’s essential to connect on a more personal, individual level. Organizational design pioneer Ed Schein called this “personizing,” which he described as “the process of getting from that role-based transaction to this more personal relationship…get[ting] to know each other in the work context.”
Of course, you won’t achieve this all in one meeting. So despite feeling pressure to get down to business immediately, dedicate time and space to meet everyone on your new team as people. This can be especially challenging if you’re in a remote or hybrid workplace, where casual shared interactions are limited—but there are still ways to connect.
The Official New Leader Introduction
Making a first impression as a new leader can feel like very high stakes. Your team will be used to working with their old leader, so their emotions may range from resentment to relief. And since old habits die hard, they’ll probably expect to treat you like they treated the old leader, regardless of how you want to be treated. Meanwhile, you’ll naturally want to prove to the team—and your bosses—that you can make an impact right away. That’s why your official introduction must accomplish five goals:
Tell a story
Set expectations
Build relationships
Establish a positive tone, and
Explain how you’ll execute the work together.
Story. Humanize and credentialize yourself to the team. Share the CliffsNotes version of your life: how you started your career, why you chose to pursue new opportunities, and what work you’re most proud of. What would you consider your most formative experiences? Don’t be afraid to get a little personal—being vulnerable and open can build the psychological safety that the team needs to succeed.
Expectations. Lay out what you hope to achieve together. What do you see as the team’s role within the organization, and what makes people good at that role? Call out work they’ve done that’s impressed you so far, and identify the opportunities that you believe you can shepherd the team towards. Be careful to avoid Mighty Mouse Syndrome—don’t create the expectation that you’re there to “fix” things unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Relationships. Now that you’ve established what you want to do, explain how you want work to be done. What are your biases as a leader? How should people interact with you, and what do you expect from the managers below you? This is also a good time to share your plan for how you intend to get to know the organization, and the individual members of team, better.
Vibes. Set yourself up to convey the right tone. Think about when you felt most “on” as a leader—how did you behave? What emotions did you want to portray? Or, try modeling your behavior on a leader you admire—what would they do in this situation? Evaluate where these interactions should take place. If you want to make it feel like work is changing, for instance, hold informal meetings in coffee shops or take the team out for a fancy breakfast.
Execution. Help the team understand what you want from them. Not only is it ok to ask for help, you should ask the team what they can help you better understand about the situation. Find out what’s made them successful and what you should take pains to avoid, and clarify what will change and what will stay the same. Lastly, determine what you want the team to do when they leave your presentation.
Building Working Relationships as a New Leader
You should then plan to follow up your official introduction with more individual touchpoints, connecting with your team in a variety of channels and formats to start building trust. As you do this:
- Don’t start from a position of scarcity. You might feel like you have to cram a bunch of specifics into your first encounter. You don’t. Instead, plan for multiple interactions. Then, in your first 1:1 meeting, have an outline of what you want to cover, but adapt it to follow the person’s needs.
- Remember, it’s not just about you. Your priorities and hopes for the team as a new leader won’t be well-known yet. The reality is that your team’s initial questions will most likely focus on how their day-to-day will be impacted: the opportunities for raises, career development, and your criteria for success. In 1:1s, create space for individuals to share anything about the change in leadership that they want to know more about, or that might be making them nervous.
- Break down the work. New leaders tend to have ambitious goals and a lot of information to share, which could feel overwhelming if tackled all at once. To make things more manageable, approach topics piecemeal. “We introduced firesides with themes to help bring our leader to our associates and vice versa via Zoom,” said Tim Gilligan, Chief of Staff, Commercial and Small Business Design at Capital One said. “[They] really helped with accessibility and trust building.”
- Don’t force it. You may want to find a singular way to connect with everyone you spend time with, but that’s never as simple as it sounds. If your team seems more reserved, start by sharing information from your user manual, and invite them to ask questions or share what they feel comfortable with.
- Try different formats. Give people options for how they interact. Playing games can bring levity into the workplace and provide clues as to how others think. Jennifer Paylor, Director of Learning & Development and Culture at CapGemini, suggested using a live video “Ask Me Anything” (AMAs). As always, a little experimentation—with a feedback loop from employees—can pay dividends.
