In the Beginning....

Ok, you just became a leader, usually in one of two ways.  Maybe you have ascended through the ranks; or maybe you have been recruited from outside to bring fresh breath to an organization.

In either case, the first thing to remember is “It looks easy until you have to do it.”  What does that mean, and how can it be the same whether you are an insider or an outsider?  A few thoughts:

Being the leader is much different from not being the leader.  That sounds dumb or self-evident, but many new leaders miss it.  You will need to nuance this distinction. Things that you were able to accomplish from farther down the food chain become much more difficult as a leader.  Leaders don’t get to work behind the scenes in relative obscurity in the same ways that minions do.  Leaders can influence and guide, but their accomplishments have to be carried out by their team.  If you try to insert yourself, you compromise both your own effectiveness and that of your team.

So doing and fixing become a challenge.  What needs to be done may seem clear to you.  However, you have to remember that the organization did not start on the day you became a leader, and whether you come from inside or outside, there is a whole level of issues, relationships, and politics that you have not been privy to previously.  You need to understand these if you are going to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. 

Especially as an insider, do not assume that you already know everything you need to know to do the job. Outsiders, of course, need to become familiar with a new culture.  But the same is true for insiders. Your team will look for you to bring your own touch to the existing culture.  They will expect change, although they won’t necessarily be able to articulate what that means.  As a leader, you will need to define your own position within the culture.  You are still one of the team, but not “one of the gang.”  That is a delicate balance.  It involves a move from manager to leader, and how you build your team differently in those two roles.


Defining change will be a great challenge for you.  Change should not be characterized as “fixing what is wrong.”  Others may not see things as broken, and remember that those who have been part of the organization may be invested in what you have inherited, regardless of your perspective. Don’t discredit or denigrate the status quo.  You are about to become it.

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