I speak to a lot of people who have recently moved into new roles. It is a tough period and after three months there is often a striking contrast between their negative emotional response to their new role then, compared to the anticipation and excitement they felt on joining their new company.
Very often they are a little “at sea”; their confidence is low and shrinking, energy levels are not very high and a sense of being overwhelmed pervades their conversations. Yet a few weeks before their tone was positive and full of anticipation; buoyed by the success of selection, their confidence was sky high.
I believe the pattern I have observed is sufficiently predictable that I now encourage people to expect it, embrace it and work with it. Obviously one size does not fit all, but the elements of this pattern as I see it are as follows:
Why is this pattern so real and so frequent? I think there is a reason and it is to do with informal networks.
Watch any established lawyer at their best and this might be a conversation you would over-hear:
“Hi Jim, it’s Claire. I have got your note. Look, I can see where you are coming from and it’s all doable. Bob gave me the heads-up last week so I know it is important to you. I have a couple of concerns, but rather than write, may I pop round for a coffee and we can probably knock it on the head?”
Now put Claire in a new role and with the same situation you’ll hear a very different conversation:
“Hi Jim, it’s Claire …Claire, your new lawyer? …Yes I hear good things about my predecessor too. I am calling about your note. I’m afraid I need more information. I have concerns so I am going to write to ask some questions. When you reply I hope to be able to give you a detailed answer at that point. By the way someone called Bob spoke to me this week and told me this was important to you. I am keen we get it right so I feel we should be cautious for now. I’ll be in touch.”
Claire is right in both her responses, but the first Claire is confident to call it as she sees it and her colleagues are carried along with her energy and insight. The second Claire is losing her confidence and the gap to winning her colleagues’ trust is widening not closing. She cannot yet make her contribution felt.
The key to feeling good about our role is that that we can make our contribution felt. The key to making our contribution felt is not because we have been “inducted” by HR, is not because we have read the latest annual report or because we have worked out where we can get a decent coffee.
In other words it is not because of anything that happens in the first few weeks.
We make our contribution felt when we trust our knowledge of the environment; when we feel comfortable to make an impact. If we feel comfortable it is because we see our role through eyes that really know what is happening behind the scenes; We know who knows what, why the culture is the way it is, who influences, who watches, who can help us, who we can help, who decides, who hides?
In other words we make our contribution felt when we have been in post long enough to have built a new internal network that we can rely upon once again.
Is it possible to avoid the pattern? In part the answer must be “No”.
Building a new internal network takes time. However I believe very strongly that we can shorten the time of our discomfort and, even more importantly, we can consciously acknowledge it, expect it and put it in perspective. Knowing its true colours means it will never undermine us.
Changing roles is a hugely stressful adventure, but we can be much better prepared for the downside and better equipped to accelerate through it.
If this resonates for you and you are struggling a little bit, you know you are welcome to give me a call; the negative feelings will pass, but I am happy to hear from you if a call would help. Take care
Paul