Taking Over a Team in a New Industry
This is one of those articles where I can’t start by saying “we’ve all been there”, but I’VE been here a number of times, and with the way the world of work is changing with unprecedented speed and uncertainty, I think it’s a relevant reflection. (Sicily, 1912) picture this: You’re on your way to your first day of work at a brand new company. You’ve been hired as a manager in an industry you don’t have any experience in, but that’s okay, because you know how to lead, right? Everything is figureoutable. The company was fairly transparent that they’ve been struggling to produce the results they’ve been wanting, and you were able to give clear answers on What To Do. That’s why they hired you! You’ve got this.
You walk in, introduce yourself, meet your new team. You’re greeted politely, though perhaps apprehensively. As the first few days go by, your team figures out they’re going to have to teach you how to do their jobs. They know you have no idea what they do.
How do you establish credibility when you’re the least knowledgeable person in the room?
Truly, this is a tough spot to be in. You have the title, the responsibility, the accountability, and none of the experience. Your upper leadership wants results, your direct reports are scoffing. So much fun!
Many leaders respond to this discomfort in one of two ways:
- They pretend they know more than they do.
- They become so cautious they stop leading altogether.
Neither approach works. So what do you do?
- Create or Maintain Stability
Your first job is NOT to change things. This is the number one thing I see leaders do when they want to “make their mark” on things. You’re really not in a position to make a mark, for one, but if you do make one immediately it’s likely to be a stain.
Most new leaders feel pressure to justify their arrival. Depending on how much pressure is added from the top, the weight can be crippling. The first thing I would say is to remember that there’s a reason why the position was worth pursuing an outside hire. The company values the knowledge you do have. Lean on that.
There is a temptation to identify problems quickly and demonstrate value through immediate action. Before you can improve a system, though, you need to understand why it exists. This stage of the process is where curiosity is a massive boon. Every process has a history, every frustration has context, and what appears inefficient may be solving a problem you haven’t discovered yet. Curiosity should precede correction.
So for now, your credibility isn’t built on having the answers from day one, but by asking better questions than anyone expected.
- Find the Informal Leaders
The org chart almost never tells the whole story. Every team has people that others naturally listen to. Sometimes they hold leadership titles, but usually they don’t. They may be trusted because of tenure, reputation, experience, likeability, or any number of things. This person or these people need to become your number one priority to build an alliance with. If you believe they don’t trust you? Have a direct conversation and see what you can do to develop the relationship. Sometimes it’s as easy as a bribe with their favorite donut. Other times, you might need to find a way to offer strategic support with something they’re quietly struggling with. Be helpful and figure it out.
Identify who influences culture, who people trust (and they’ll tell you more reliably who people DON’T trust), and understand who carries institutional knowledge. Ignoring your informal leaders creates resistance; that being said, if your team doesn’t get along amongst themselves, the one way to create a team united is when they unite against you. You can still work with that. Partner with your untitled influencers when you can, though, because it accelerates trust.
- Learn the Business Through the Team
No one, and I mean NO ONE, wants to have to teach their superior how to do their job. It tends to be a one-way ticket to resentment and having the wool pulled over your eyes. The IDEAL situation is that your business would support you learning the ropes in another location before being introduced to your own reports. If there are no other locations or it’s a smaller business you’re out of luck.
The truth, though, is you don’t need to know more than everyone else. You need to learn faster than expected. When you show a true investment in what’s occurring (and more importantly why), people tend to respond positively. The quicker you can study, retain, and demonstrate progress, the better. This will command respect faster than anything else and there’s truly no substitute for it. You absolutely must roll up your sleeves and learn the nitty gritty.
* I would recommend not asking outright that your employees teach you their roles. Ask to observe them, and ask thorough questions.
Positivity and goodwill can take you miles in this phase. Compliment intelligent and thorough work when you see it, acknowledge attention to detail, and reward expertise. Positive reinforcement always gets a smile. People are surprisingly patient with leaders who are learning, but unsurprisingly impatient with leaders who are pretending.
- Make Confidence and Certainty Two Different Things
Many leaders confuse confidence with having all the answers. Confidence isn’t certainty – it’s being willing to move forward despite incomplete information. No one will expect perfection, but your team will expect honesty, consistency, and good judgement. If you admit what you don’t know, communicate what you’re learning, make necessary decisions, and (most importantly) adjust when new information emerges, you will earn respect on the front end and likely some grace if it’s needed.
- Earn the Right to Change Things
Eventually leadership does require action. The goal isn’t to avoid change, it’s to avoid uninformed change. Here are a few pro tips:
- Listen first
- Diagnose before prescribing
- Solve visible problems early when possible
- Explain the reasoning behind your decisions
This is the surest way to build the bridge between senior leaders who are wanting results and your team, who probably also wants results, but doesn’t have to advocate for them in a QBR. You need to be able to answer to and reason with both sides.
Wrapping It Up:
When you’re entering an unfamiliar industry it’s very tempting to think your biggest obstacle is a lack of knowledge. It is an obstacle, but knowledge can be learned. The bigger challenge is usually managing ego (because being unexpectedly humbled simply is not fun). Let go of needing to be the smartest person in the room. You should have known by accepting the job that you’re directly positioning yourself again as “student”. Leadership authority and technical expertise are also usually mutually exclusive.
When you focus on creating clarity, alignment, and accountability, trust that your competence will grow over time. It’s also a great opportunity to create the environmental conditions for your collective knowledge as a team to naturally scale over time. This invariably produces better, more consistent results.
Your team may or may not need another expert, but they will always need a leader they can trust.