Leadership "Deep Dive" Forum - First day in the job, your Boss is OOTO

Assuming no pressing emergencies--

I'd schedule a one-on-one meeting with the sales manager and get acquainted.  Possibly lunch.  I would let him bring up business, and at some point generally ask what I could do to help.  I would not specifically mention that sales were down, he knows it, why cost the man his face?

I'd wander through the customer service area and introduce myself to staff.  I'd be lavish in my praise.  

I'd invite my manager of R&D to explain to be what they were working on.  Is this department actuarial or what?  "Project teams" would wait until the boss was back and could explain the hierarchy, formal and otherwise.

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I would check in with a board member and find out who are the key players are.   I would schedule 1:1s with my direct reports to introduce myself and see what they have to say about current and long term status.

I would want to find access to current status reports and overview of each departmental area.

All the best Sarah Howard, London.

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Thats a nice start. :-)

As head of the US office, I guess you would not want to take it casual.

I would ask for background information on my reporting managers before meeting up with them.

I would certainly send an email to the employees letting them know that i have arrived and letting them know that my door is open!

Jones Spencer, NY

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Karl, Sarah & Jones - thank you for your comments in kicking these discussions off...

Is it ok to just meet and greet on the first day, or should there be other objectives?

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Nice start to your job!!

I would take it in my stride :-)

Let me see...

• I would arrange a quick meet & greet with my reports to say hi!
• I would pick up the latest status reports and review
• Before lunch time I would walk the floor and get to meet everyone
• Afternoon would be the 1:1s with the department heads
• Before I finish, I would touch base with office heads around the world!

So, the Key objective for day 1 is to meet & greet and get a overview of what is going on.

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Seems like we have a good idea of what the plan is for day 1!

So what would you say, if a board member from HQ calls into your office on day 2 and asks what your priorities are for this week because your boss will be away.

He also asks what your opinion is in talking under performaning departments! :-)

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So you want to make it interesting, eh Justin?

Well I would agree with him that we most certainly want to "take on" underperforming departments.  As our biggest problem is sales, we really need to unpack what is going wrong here.  Is it the general economy, is it our products, or is it our sales force is simply not afire.

I'd tell him that "Bob" the sales manager was out of town on Monday, but that Bob and I had scheduled lunch for today and I was eager to hear Bob's take on the situation.   I'd ask the board member if he had prior interaction with Bob and see if I could extract his opinion on the man.  I'd ask board member when he was free for a face-to-face as I would be eager to have his analysis on the situation.

I'd tell him I'm very concerned with the R&D department and that I want to be very careful that we have actuarilly sound projects in the product pipeline.  While we might want to change the staffing level, like sales, we should know what's going on first.

I'd assure board member that I wanted to take quick action, but that I wanted to take a few days to meet all the players (including my boss) and be briefed on their efforts before executing a business plan. 

Justin, how about giving these players some names?  It might make it easier to exchange ideas.

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Good questions.

In reply to the board member question.  I would agree that turning around the under performing departments would be my immediate priority.

I would not specify any timeline but simply say that I would want to take the next 2 weeks reviewing the situation before taking next steps.

I would agree with Karl that Sales would be the No. 1 priority.

John, Glasgow

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Listening is a critical element of what the leader must do in the first couple of weeks.  This would also be the case with the board member.  Get his opinion on what the challenges are and any insight into the risks goin forward!

Kelly, Boston US

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All very good comments so far. 

I'd take my first day as an opportunity to learn about the company instead of just meeting and greeting. Determine who the decision makers actually are in each department and establish a working relationship with them. Ask questions about business, discuss individual goals, and listen listen listen to them. The first day is your opportunity to take the temp of XYZ Incoorperated, and to LISTEN before ACTING on ANYTHING..kinda like my relationship with my girlfriend...but I digress..

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