I have an interview next week! I’m trying not to get ahead of myself but naturally my mind has raced ahead to what the first day at a new job might be like.
My last first day was in September 2018 and it was not what I had expected. The culture at Walgreens at that time was that when you introduced yourself to anyone, you told them how long you had been with the company. And my team was all very proud of how long they had been with the company. It was a little bit intimidating because I was the first person to come from outside Walgreens in a long time and to be honest, they were not as welcoming as they could have been. There were also a couple of people who weren’t selected to be promoted into my role so I get why they were less than thrilled to meet me.
However, I’m always in it for the long run. It might have been a slow start but about a year later, my team was MY team. I’m a firm believer in getting the lay of the land and figuring out how people/processes/systems work before I make any pronouncements about making changes. That way, when I initiate a change I know where the pitfalls might be and I don’t make changes that just can’t work because of systems or process constraints.
I think you need to know why things are the way they are before you try to change them. I also think this is something that too many managers don’t do. Managers, Directors, VPs, CEOs – too many times they make pronouncements about change and they don’t take the time to understand how things got to where they are. I understand business urgency – but if you don’t know how things really work, how do you really know how to change them for the better? This is my BIGGEST business pet peeve. What’s yours? Tell me in the comments!
Learn Or Do 