This article will post on January 20, 2021 which means that exactly noon Eastern Standard Time, the United States will have a new president. Now, I am intentionally not political on this blog and I’m going to continue that today – so don’t run away if you have strong feelings on the inauguration. I am also cognizant of the unrest and violent demonstrations that are planned for the day, just two weeks after the deadly insurrection and riots at the US Capitol.. Instead, allow me to simply use this historic event as the context and background for something that I think may be useful and or relatable to you – the reader of a technology careers blog.
Side note: I have my own strong opinions on the state of politics in the United States and I encourage you to follow me on Twitter if you want to see me comment on them in 280 characters snippets.
It is more likely than not that your new boss won’t live in government housing… or a fortress. But they may have a lawn, so it’s kind of like this.
In late 2018, I had the weird opportunity to be at the Capitol building the day the government was going to shutdown because Congress and the president couldn’t agree on a continuing resolution to fund the government. I was actually there when the flag flying over the Senate came down, meaning that no agreement was reached and they were no longer in session. I was even next to Vice President Pence’s motorcade - which was a surreal feeling - watching it pull out of the Capitol and head (presumably) back to the Naval Observatory that American vice presidents call home for the duration of their tenure.
As I crossed the street to the Supreme Court (which in comparison to the White House and the Capitol is effectively unguarded) I remember thinking about how often leadership in Washington changes and how disruptive that has to be for the thousands of career civil servants that work for (or with) political appointees of any branch of government. I was thinking of this in contrast to the Supreme Court, which by design has a very stable membership and therefore leadership.
However, the composition of the Congress changes every two years and the Executive branch has new leadership every eight years at a minimum. And while of course not every civil servant reports directly to a political appointee who is their direct boss, ultimately all of them do serve these appointees or elected officials. This means that policies, priorities, culture, and vision are likely to change - sometimes drastically - depending on who is now in control. So I started wondering how those folks who have been working for the federal government sometimes for decades handle these abrupt and occasionally drastic changes. As I pondered this standing on the steps of the Supreme Court, I realized that almost all of us deal with this at some point in our careers.
Most of us don’t get out of a full career without having our boss change while we stay in the same role. I have served at the pleasure of four CIOs at my current employer. I have seen priorities shift multiple times – sometimes to my distinct benefit and improved visibility, and sometimes the other way.
I think there’s a positive way to address getting a new manager and I thought I could provide three actions that I think will help you have a successful transition regardless of how or why you get a new manager. I think these are equally applicable whether someone internally was promoted or transferred into the role or if this was an outside hire new to the company.
First, prepare.
Whether you like it or not, first impressions matter a lot. That means that you want to have your first meeting with the new boss be productive and highlight some of what you bring to the table. Be prepared to discuss some of your key strengths and what projects you are working on. Keep in mind that unless you have someone who has never managed before, almost every manager is good at seeing who is bragging or kissing up so just be honest and forthright. You don’t want to be in the background, but you also don’t want to be the office blowhard. The best advice here is to show that you prepared for the meeting and know your role really well.
You also want to do a little background research on your new manager. If she’s an internal candidate, try to get a feel for what she was doing in her last role, and if you know anyone (or someone you know knows someone) who was on her team before – try to get 15 minutes with them to see if she has any pet peeves or things she really likes. For instance, if you find out that she always wants people to come to meetings with written agendas or priorities, you have a head start. If you find out that she absolutely hates when people are late,you know not to be late. I’ve seen some articles that suggest seeing if you have any hobbies in common, but I think that’s a cheap (and easy to see through) ploy. Let’s not Facebook stalk our new boss.
As a final note on preparation, make sure that you build a list of questions you want to ask. For instance, I feel like you have an opportunity the first time you meet to let your new manager know that you are interested in helping her achieve her goals (which are really team goals) and want to make sure that you’re working on her priorities, so make sure to ask what her priorities are. That shows that you are not only thinking down the road a bit, but that you are supporting her and the overall team. Some other questions might be more practical like how she prefers to be communicated with. Some managers (including me) prefer emails because it lets me refer back to important information. Some like IMs and others texts. It’s also helpful to be aware of what their least favorite form of communication is. For example, if you’ve ever worked on my staff you know that text messaging is my least favorite form of communication and I only use it when I can’t find you and need to talk to you.
Second, have empathy for them.
Your new boss probably has a packed calendar. It’s not that they don’t like you - it’s just that they’re really busy getting the lay of the land.
I mean, I guess it’s possible they don’t like you - but if you follow these steps, it’s a lot less likely.
Remember, your new boss is in a new roleand just like anyone else who is brand new to a job, they likely won’t have all of the answers or total clarity about their role on the first day. They likely have a full slate of meetings to get up to speed given to them by their new boss and they’re trying to get their feet under them. As a result, they may not be able to give you all the time in the world. Be understanding that they only have so many hours in the day, and they need to meet everyone, not just you. Be sensitive to their calendar pressures, especially if they have a larger staff.
Also, if you’ve been around the company for a while and know some of the “inside baseball” or politics of the company, be sensitive on if and how you deliver that to them. For instance, if you are responsible for managing the CRM tool the sales team uses, you may want to provide your boss with some insight into the sales team such as who the main decision makers are and what they seem to be interested in. Make sure when you do this, however, that you keep the information pertinent; it’s likely that your new manager doesn’t have the headspace to hear your personal intel on everyone in the office and who they are chums with.
While it’s important that your new boss know everything that’s going on, don’t overwhelm her all at once with your entire project load and everything you’ve done for the past fifteen years. Keep it succinct for an initial meeting and fill in the gaps later as you start to build a relationship. This sounds really simple, but if they have even a moderately sized team everyone is coming at them at the same time – you probably couldn’t digest all of that at once either, so don’t assume your new boss can either. Make sure you aren’t trying to back a truck of information up to them and dump it all at once.
Remember, empathy isn’t just about knowing what they’re going through or up against, but being sensitive to it and reacting as a result. It’s not enough to know that your new manager may be stressed about relocating their family or trying to figure out everything in your team’s pipeline. You actually have to use that information to try to make your (new) boss’ job easier and more comfortable. If you can do that, it will be noticed.
Third, adapt to the new reality.
Now that you do have a new boss, you absolutely should not continue to function as you used to unless that same new boss told you that that is exactly what they want you to do. As we discussed above, your new boss may have some new priorities and may have been hired explicitly because of them. Because of this, you need to adapt to what your new boss wants and how they want to work. We went through a lot of legwork above trying to learn how they want to communicate, what they want to get done, and trying to see the world from their perspective. Now’s your opportunity to put that all together and adapt to your new reality.
The suit says “boss” but the stern look and crossed arms say… uh… well, I guess it also says “boss.” This guy is a boss, or at least plays one on stock photography.
I like his suit, though.
Continuing to function as you used to when you have a new boss can be a recipe for friction. It’s highly unlikely that your company was able to clone a new boss from your old one, and therefore they will want to do certain things differently than your old one. It’s up to you to find out what those things are that your new boss wants changed and adapt to how they want to work - not the other way around. That means that you may need to endure some growing pains or discomfort. That’s OK, because it means that you have the opportunity to stretch and show that you can be an adaptable employee, which is always valued by a company and has the added benefit of helping you grow professionally as well.
Years ago, my grandfather told me a story about an old boss that had a plaque up on his desk that said “There is wisdom in realizing that the boss is.” It’s not at all a very 2021 sentiment and I don’t think it would play well today if you were a manager to have that up in your office so that your staff could see it, but I think about it often because we all have disagreements with our managers’ decisions from time to time. When that happens, I like to think of that plaque and just remember that my boss is in fact my boss, and it’s up to me to adapt to their decisions and what they want. Certainly, it doesn’t hurt to start that process on day one.
Most of the time, getting a new boss (or a new boss’ boss) isn’t immensely disruptive – certainly not over the long term. If it was, you’d see people freaking out all the time around the world because managers generally have a higher turnover rate than individual contributors which means people are getting new bosses all the time. Keep that in mind, and it may help alleviate any anxiety you have on getting a new boss.
So, even if your new boss is moving into the company provided National Historical Site at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, you can probably get off on the right foot by following the Prepare – Empathize – Adapt framework presented here. Let’s follow the example of the federal employees who are ready to shift priorities once again and hit the ground running with their new managers; there’s always a lot of work to do.
Questions for reflection:
The last time you got a new boss was it an incredibly stressful experience? How could you have reduced the stress or anxiety?
If you have met with a new manager before, did you go in with a planned list of questions and information you wanted to share? If not, do you think it would have helped the meeting?
Put yourself in the shoes of a new manager. Pretend that you just took over the team. What would you want from your staff? Odds are that you probably aren’t too far off; go do that until you learn differently.