Turning up for your first few days of a new job is tough. As the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer works out where the bathroom is, the focus will be on his every move, and as we watch from the comfort of the sidelines – we can learn some valuable lessons in how to prevent a ‘crash and burn’ from those nascent starting blocks.
Fresh starts, new everything
Those first days of a new job are daunting whoever you are. There’s a liberal smattering of ‘imposter syndrome’ to navigate even for the most confident of professionals together with a feeling of overwhelm with a new team, a different culture, complex processes and systems to get to grips with - not to mention remembering everyone’s name.
Their people wonder what radical changes they intend to make and what kind of leader they are. One way to allay their fears is by adopting an enquiry-led approach to decision making – this means asking questions of those around you in such a way that invites collaboration
It doesn’t matter how many times you have started over before and whether you are veteran job switcher, those early days are still exhausting and bewildering. You must ask everything from where the photocopier is to the key codes of the door and every nuance of how work is done in between. First impressions count and while they aren’t everything, they paint a picture in many people’s minds of what’s to come. Winning the role is just the beginning, it’s when the job begins that the challenges arise.