Your job title has not changed. Your desk has not changed. But your boss has changed. Whether due to an internal promotion, reorganization, acquisition or external hire, you now have a new boss. How will you react? How will you adjust? What can you do to set yourself up to succeed? Getting a new boss offers you an opportunity to rebuild your professional image.
1. Make the mind shift and make it fast.
Prepare yourself to say, “This is a new person, with new ways of doing things, new priorities, a different personality and different ways of treating people.” Remember you and your new boss are looking for the same things… trust, support, communication and recognition.
2. You got passed over for the promotion.
Work on creating an understanding on how the two of you can work to your mutual benefit. You may find that both of you can come out ahead by working together.
3. Don’t choose sides.
There may be a person on your team that believes that they should have been promoted into the new role and that they are more capable than the person chosen for the job. It is best to take a neutral stance on your new boss.
4. First Impressions.
It takes less than 30 seconds for a first impression to form and it’s incredibly hard to repair a bad first impression. Consider carefully what to say to your new boss and when. If you’re not sure, put yourself in your boss’ shoes. Be useful, but not annoying.
5. First meeting.
Within the first few days of your boss’ arrival, set up a 10 minute meeting to introduce yourself, let them know what you do and that yo u are there as a resource for them. Initiate the meeting if they don’t. Find out everything you can about your new boss before your first meeting. Get their resume, talk to anyone who’s worked for them, if they’ve written articles, read them. Don’t go in cold. Think of your first meeting as the beginning of a dialogue where you create common understanding. Don’t try to do everything in one meeting.
6. Pay attention to style.
One of the goals of your first meeting is to find out how your boss likes to be updated (email voice mail, drop-by) and how often. Does your boss prefer a formal weekly meeting or spontaneous discussion? Does your boss want the whole story, complete with every detail, or brief highlights and challenges?
7. Never, never say….
It’s natural to compare how a previous boss did something versu s a new boss. Just don’t say it out loud. If something comes up, you can offer, “When ‘X’ was here, we did it this way. How would you like to do it?” Never trash-talk your predecessor or your colleagues, even under the guise of “I’m so glad you’re here to fix things.” Instead, point out the top two opportunities or challenges that you see, and offer possible solutions.
Finally…
Bottom line, even if you’ve been passed over for the new role, the faster you come up to speed and support your new boss’ preferences, the better it will be for you. Demonstrating a good attitude about change, and learning new skills and efficiencies will build your career. You may even end up with a new mentor and possibly a promotion. Someday you might be that new boss who needs “breaking in.”
7 Tips for Breaking In Your New Boss
Connie Dorigan, Founder and Director of Recruiting, sees the food processing industry as the link between good living and good people. She’s the west coast’s most experienced and trusted food processing recruiter. She also provides Executive and Career Coaching and lots of free job search tools. Once you’ve connected with Connie, you’ll always be connected.
© 2018 Connie Dorigan. All rights reserved.
This is a general interest article and does not constitute specific or legal advice.
