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To Launch Something New, You Need a Good Plan
Your long and varied career is likely to include a series of new jobs and other fresh starts. In 2014, the median time workers had been with their current employer was 4.6 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And even if you defy the odds and stay with the same employer for much of your work life, your positions will change; youâll take on new projects, clients, or assignments; and your entire organization could be repeatedly transformed.
What I learned from my worst first day at work
My worst first day was 30 years ago, but it remains a vivid memory. I was a few years out of law school and shifting to a new firm in the nationâs capital. The title on my business card read âpartnerâ instead of âassociate,â in recognition of the clients I was able to bring along with me.
On my first day, I arrived in a new suit, with an empty briefcase, eager to make a good impression in the Washington office of this Virginia firm. But the attorneys who had interviewed me were all out of the office that day, and nobody else seemed pleased to meet me.
I found my way to the most senior Washington partner and introduced myself. He was curt: âAt the interviews they all thought you were so great, but frankly I donât see it. Youâre going to have to prove yourself before anybody here gives you work.â
The first friendly word was from the kind firm administrator who took me to lunch and warned me about a few things. She told me that there had been controversy over my title. And she hinted that in this male-dominated firm, both attorneys and support staff would need some time to get used to the idea of working with a woman lawyer.
The cool welcome was a challenge, but the most uncomfortable part of the day was that I had absolutely nothing to do. Well in advance, I had caught up with work for the clients I was bringing with me. This was back before there was a Web to surf, and I struggled to look busy. Instead of hustling over the weekend to finish my client work, I should have prepared a long list of things to do.
That night, I called my father, holding back tears. To cheer me up, he described his experience with new jobs: âThe first day is always the worst day. The first week is always the worst week. The first month is the worst month. And the first year is the worst year.â
I donât buy into the pessimism embedded in Dadâs view of new jobs. But in that case he was prophetic. Within days the partners who had hired me returned to the office and greeted me with enthusiasm. And in successive weeks, months, and years I found my niche in the firm and eventually felt fully accepted.
My immediate anxieties were eased when I connected with colleagues who were more welcoming than the ones I encountered on that first day. But my time at the firm improved largely because I learned a critical lesson on Day One: nobody else was in charge of making me successful. That was my job. I went to work on my second day with the beginnings of a plan for how I would keep busy, take care of my clients, find new ones, and market my services to other lawyers in the firm. I never again assumed that the leadership would carry the responsibility for my success.
How to get off to a great start
These days itâs hard to imagine that any established business would make so little effort on employee orientation. Often, in a process human resource experts call âonboarding,â organizations develop elaborate plans to ensure that a new hire can quickly get to know key insiders and stakeholders, learn about performance expectations, and become familiar with the internal culture. Leaders may work hard to help recruits get a feel for the environment and develop realistic expectations about their roles.
But even when youâre supported by onboarding pros and a welcoming boss, youâre wise to have your own plan for starting your new job or assignment. Whether you are joining a different company, changing slots in the same outfit, or launching a new project, consider these tips as you lay out your plan:
Learn what your boss wants. Initially, your manager may be vague about what she wants you to do. Of course, you should ask about your expected deliverables and the best way to report on your progress. But donât count on clear, complete answers. Be prepared to do some detective work. Observe how your boss interacts with her other direct reports, what she typically wants to know, and how she sends information up the line. Notice her schedule, like when she seems to catch up on e-mail or which days she tends to work late. Get a sense of what
she must do in order to be successful, and look for ways to help. Study the organizationâs mission and consider how your contributionâand hersâfit within the big picture.
Get to know people. When managers and professionals run into trouble with new positions or projects, itâs typically not because they donât have the technical skills. Rather, they are more likely to fail because they misunderstand the culture or donât establish working relationships with the right people. During your first months, be methodical as you reach out to teammates and others who seem to have information to share. E-mail them, saying, âSince Iâm new to this role, Iâd like to set up a little time to hear your perspective and learn more about your projects and background.â
Listen and learn. When you meet your new colleagues, ask questions and really listen to what everyone says. Resist the urge to talk about yourself and your successes in the old job. Keep an open mind, avoid offering criticism before you understand the history, and be cautious about choosing sides among warring factions.
Set short-term goals. As you start to feel that your feet are on the ground, create realistic objectives for your first few months, then for the first year. Reconfirm your understanding of your bossâs expectations, focus on areas that seem to be high priority, and identify some relatively easy near-term achievements. Donât try to do everything at once, but identify specific preliminary stepsâlike introductory meetingsâto move you in the right direction.
Do what you say you will. One of the worst ways to start out is to create a trail of broken promises. Deliver on every commitment you make, no matter how small. For example, if you offer to make a phone call or send along information, do so immediately.
Be on time. A simple way to demonstrate respect and enthusiasm is to meet all deadlines and show up on time for every meeting and appointment. This can be more challenging than usual if youâre following a different schedule and youâre operating in an unfamiliar environment, but itâs worth the extra effort.
Adjust your attitude. Itâs not unusual to experience a letdown soon after you start your job. Once youâre beyond the excitement of the move, you may realize that not everything is meeting your expectations. If you start to feel that the honeymoon is over, it will be time to make an important choice. You can give in to your disappointment and become preoccupied with how theyâve let you down. Or you can choose to focus on the positive aspects of your situation and commit yourself to doing what it takes to reach your goals. This is a good time to remember that youâre the CEO of your career, and itâs your job to navigate the bumps and barriers.
Give yourself four to six weeks to work like crazy. Thereâs no way around the intense upfront investment required to kick off something new. This can be exhausting and isnât the best way to live for the long haul. But be super focused and consider working at an unsustainable pace for a month or so. For this brief time, youâll keep your weekends pretty clear, postpone social obligations, and skimp on household chores. At the same time, set a deadline, clearly marked on your calendar, for when youâll pause and reassess your work style. Consciously add back the things you temporarily cut from your life, and tweak your goals from this point on.
Manage stress. Adjusting to your new assignment will undoubtedly produce moments of uncertainty that can lead to a high level of stress. Select a strategy for managing anxiety and include a fitness program. You may feel like you have no time to work out, but thatâs shortsighted. The time you spend on keeping your cool and boosting your energy is an investment in your success.
Even if youâre a person who enjoys change, starting something new can be unnerving. But once you are comfortable with your approach for planning and launching a new gig, your transition will feel less daunting.
Start your plan here
To create a quick and easy plan for launching a new job, answer these five questions:
1) What is my job description?
2) What are my most important objectives for the first year, including the things my boss wants most from me?
3) Who are the people who will be impacted by my work, who can help me to be successful, or who have information that I need, and when can I meet with them for 30 minutes?
4) What are quick and easy wins, including meeting people and learning about the job, that I can deliver during the first three months?
5) What organizational, fitness, or other habits will help me to perform at my best during the first three months?
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Think Like an Entrepreneur, Wherever You Are
When I was in my 20s, it never crossed my mind that I would run my own business like Iâm doing today. Back then, I wanted job security. And I felt secure at big organizations with clear and enduring missions like the Securities and Exchange Commission, where I worked right after law school.
It was flattering to be recruited from the SEC to my first law firm. But when I first arrived, I missed the roadmap to promotion that had been so clear in a government job. Then when I watched more closely, I began to understand the ârules.â At the law firm, the partners with power were the ones with their own loyal clients. So, I began recruiting clients, not at first realizing that I was in effect creating my own little enterprise.
When I saw the chance to quickly become a partner, I took my clients to another firm, the one I wrote about in Chapter 1. On that first day, I still was thinking of the law firm just as I would any other employer. But I was immediately forced to see how my arrival appeared from the firmâs perspective. The partners didnât view me as an employee so much as a very small business to integrate into their operations. As a partner I was obligated to market my services, produce billable work, and bring in more money than the firm had to spend in order to pay me and cover my overhead.
I gradually realized that every organization of any significant size is a collection of smaller operations, all of which have to produce products or services that somehow support a shared mission. Years later, when I joined my largest corporate client as the public affairs executive, I understood that I had to think like an entrepreneur in order to find success and real security.
At Consolidated Natural Gas Company, a Fortune 500 utility conglomerate, I was brought in as a change agent. I had to reorganize or invent costly outreach services, like lobbying on nat...
