Taking on a Senior Leadership Role Remotely

AI is transforming the world and it starts with the right compute. ARM is the AI compute platform trusted by global leaders, proudly NASDAQ listed, Built for the future. Visit arm.com discover. Welcome to the hbr ideacast from harvard business review. I'm kurt nickish. The President of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself. You get 90. That sober accounting comes from the introduction of the classic book from Michael watkins, the first 90 days. It's about how the actions you take during the first few months in a new role end up being so pivotal. Watkins goes on to write that quote, if you're successful in building credibility and securing early wins, the momentum likely will propel you through the rest of your tenure. But if you dig yourself into a hole early on, you will face an uphill battle from that point forward. End quote. Now, that management book was written before the pandemic, and taking on a new leadership role during this difficult time is even more complicated and even more important to get right. And our guest today has some advice on the biggest things to keep in mind. You are starting a new job remotely and the added pitfalls to look out for. Joining us now is Muriel Wilkins. She's a co founder of Paravis Partners, an executive coaching firm, and she's also the host of the new HBR Presents podcast, Coaching Real Leaders. Muriel, thanks so much for being here.

Thank you for having me.

So, setting a baseline here, what are those standard hurdles that leaders face when they start a new role at a new company?

Well, whenever you onboard into a new role, whether it's at a new company or at a different company, a leader is really tasked with jumping two main hurdles. The way I see it. One is how they effectively and quickly establish their credibility, as you stated, and the other is also how they effectively and quickly establish their connectivity. So the credibility part is learning about the organization, assessing what's working, what's not working, at times, having to make decisions on day one right when they're not, they just stepped in the door. And even articulating what their vision might be for the organization and the connectivity side to it is understanding and establishing their relationships or their presence with their team, their board, their investors, their customers, and the broader organization so that those folks can get a sense of who the leader is and take in any information that might signal to them how that individual is going to lead into the future. So both of those hurdles are at play, both the credibility piece and the connectivity piece. And the onus is on the leader to really jump those hurdles as best they can.

How has Covid changed that?

Well, so I think that Covid, you know, in the COVID era that we're in the same two buckets still apply. The difference is really how it's done. So I've worked with leaders and with CEOs who were offered their position February of 2020 and then started their role in April 2020, right as the pandemic was starting. They're starting their role and they haven't.

Even met their team yet.

Probably in person, they haven't even met their team. And so their whole organization and actually the whole world is in crisis mode. And let's face it, not all leaders are crisis leaders. Right. And so they need to learn how to be that quite quickly. And then they also have to onboard in many cases completely virtually. As you just shared, they, they haven't met anybody face to face. And it's really not something that we've had a recent precedent or I don't even know if we've had any precedent for this. So all the must dos on how you onboard effectively, as you duly noted in Michael Watkins classic, the first 90 days still apply. But the challenge now is how does one do that under the circumstances of the pandemic?

Let's talk through some of those key tasks then, key competencies that people have to have as they take on a new leadership role at a new company. I imagine the classics are things like communication, relationship building, maybe more so now than ever, change management. Like what are those things that new leaders have to really focus on and keep front and center in a very distracting time.

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, certainly I think the competency of communication is of prime importance during this time because we cannot just assume that individuals are and the organization is going to understand where we're coming from as a new leader, that they know what we're thinking. It's a little easier to do that. I'm not saying it's easy, but it's a little easier to do that. When we had the times where we could interact in person, do the drive bys in the, in the office, or walk the halls and run into people and talk to them in an impromptu way, that's not happening right now. All of the spontaneity and the impromptu moments that actually make up human relationships and human dynamics are gone. And so leaders have to understand that A, they need to communicate, B, again, they need to adapt how they're communicating and be proactive around that. It's having the meetings, making sure that they're communicating at all levels of the organization. And when they're communicating, are they demonstrating a presence that again, not only demonstrates that they are credible and that they're learning and that they have the knowledge to lead this organization, even if they're new, but that they are relating to those that are in front of them, that they are starting to forge some type of connection with their stakeholders.

This has always been one of the balances that new leaders have to strike when they come in. There's the proverbial listening tour, getting a lay of the land, but also trying to take action quickly, get early wins show what they're about. Is that calculus different now?

Yeah, I don't necessarily think the calculus has changed. The risk right now is that because the circumstances change, it might be exacerbated for a particular leader because not only are they facing the pressure of starting a new role, they're also facing the incremental pressure of starting that role. Under the pandemic. What I'm seeing is that there's a higher likelihood under this exacerbated stress for leaders to default to what's most comfortable for them rather than carry that balancing act of the listening and taking action. So either they're spending too much time in listening mode and not moving to action early enough, or they're moving to action too quickly without making the time to listen, understanding. So not to say that this didn't happen pre pandemic, it just has been exacerbated.

Have you seen people navigate that really well? I mean, is there anybody that you've coached or worked with, you feel might have some have some insights here, some lessons?

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, I've worked with somebody who did a fantastic job from day one having these virtual tours. She leads a huge organization and she went out of her way. It was a big burden and workload on her, but went out of her way to create smaller, intimate virtual gatherings where people. People could ask her things. They got to see her in terms of the human that she is, which is really important. But she started conveying her ideas around what she was interested in for the organization. But she took a lot of time to again, ask the questions, listen to people, give them a chance to voice their opinions. And then she started to work with her team to articulate where were they going to start taking action. Before they started taking action, though, the biggest thing was that they needed to really understand what the priorities would be. And so just going through a process of articulating the priorities before moving to action was starting to bring the organization along and didn't Feel like too soon. So the steps were she listened, prioritized, then started to take action. And during that time really circling back with folks to ask, is it too much, is it too fast? What can the organization handle at this point? At the end of the day, it's a dance. There's no perfect art, there's no perfect timing that's going to say by day 30 you have to be doing this. But it requires the leader to be in tune and again have their ears on the ground for what's happening as well as have the courage that maybe now it's time to push. And the question is, how much can I push?

Yeah, it also takes a lot of time to do those. You know, you have to work harder to create those one on ones to get those relationship building meetings and interactions when you're not in an office or not in the same workplace specifically as the manager. So what can you do to overcome that?

Yeah, so I think that look, I mean again, you know, time was the issue of we don't have enough time is nothing new. Again the question becomes how do you deal with it now? And in reality, in terms of making the time to have these meetings is a bit of a conundrum because we actually have more time now and we're filling it up. So the question is, are we filling it up with the right things? So what it requires is actually getting back to this notion of essentialism and prioritizing. And so part of what I'm seeing some of the leaders I work with do is take a step back and say how do I a systemize some of these meetings that I need to have so that they're scheduled. There's a cadence to it. Again, no different than what you should be doing even pre pandemic, but this time around, recognizing that they might need to be doing it at different levels so that they are covering all the different touch points, but they also need to make sure that they're making room for the impromptu interaction. So not everything needs to be scheduled. And so I encourage a lot of my clients to leave some unscheduled time so that if they need to call somebody, they call somebody. If they need to just check in with them, they check in with them. They don't have to wait for a scheduled meeting for it to happen. So it's both scheduling the formal meetings, but also making sure that you're leaving room in your schedule for the impromptu informal interactions that might need to happen, which will require you to be proactive there. And another good practice is to make sure that your communication or your interactions are not just outbound, meaning create a way for others in the organization to have access to you. So one of the ways that I've seen this happen is I have a leader that I've worked with who has established what she calls the Zoom Tea Hour. And it's every Friday from 2 to 3, and she's on Zoom with a cup of tea, and it's an open invite for anyone who wants to join. And she says, you know, it's time to spill the tea, as they say. Right. So she's like, ask me anything, and if I can spill it, I'll spill it. And, you know, sometimes one person shows up, sometimes a whole bunch of people show up. But the message she's sending across is, I'm accessible to you. It doesn't always have to be me sharing information. Come and share with me or come and ask me questions. I'm available if need be.

How do you make sure. I mean, that's a nice example, right? But how do you make sure that your personality and management style and priorities come through remotely?

Yeah, I mean, you know, it's interesting because I think during this time, we have come to truly appreciate how much live interactions impact our ability to forge connections and relationships. Perhaps something that we've taken for granted. Right. With the rise of email communication, with the rise of texting, and even with social media where we think we see somebody's true personality, but we actually don't. And so the bottom line is there's really nothing like a live interaction to let folks see what you're about, whether that's through video conference or phone calls or even a virtual town hall. So my rule of thumb is make it live when you can. Right. And show them who you are until they get it, particularly if you're new. I mean, they're looking to see who you are, who's the human behind the CEO title or the president title or whatever title you have. And secondly, I think it's important for leaders new in their role to not only show their style through these interactions, but quite frankly, be really explicit about what your style is. Talk about it, you know, tell them what they should expect in terms of your style. I think this is a time where something like, you know, particularly in those first few weeks, something like, you know, the tradition of the GE new assimilation process or discussion with your team, where you're open about how you communicate, how you make decisions, how you take in information, what are your likes and dislikes. This is a time to use that right. Just be explicit about it. Tell people, don't keep them guessing. I just find that to be even more important during these times.

How do you exercise, show, display empathy as a leader when you're, when you're starting a new job at a time like this?

Yeah. I mean, look, I think that the muscles of empathy still get demonstrated in similar ways. Right. How do you feel like somebody empathizes with you? They are listening to you, and they're listening to understand. So you ask the questions to fully understand where the others are coming from. You acknowledge and appreciate what's been done before you arrived on the scene. You reach further down into the organization again. You don't stay in your bubble. You take questions openly and respond to them transparent, as transparently as you can. And you do all those things not only under the regular operation of the business, but you also do them with regards to how people are dealing with the pandemic. Because, you know, while we're all in it and we're all experiencing this era that we're in, you know, everyone is experiencing it differently. And so a leader has to be in tune with that. Like this is the wrong time for them to project what their experience is, living through the pandemic on everyone else. Okay. So acknowledging that it's not business as usual and that everyone is trying to do the best they can is important. I also think that an effective way of authentically and genuinely displaying empathy is keeping in mind that little things go a very long way. Yes, you have to do some things organizationally, but there are also some small actions you can take that go a tremendously long way. So think about what you can do to alleviate the pandemic stress for the overall organization. But also don't overlook some of the small actions that can make a big difference in one person's situation and will have, you know, a, a ripple effect. I, I, I think about a CEO that, that I work with and his admin was have his executive assistant was having an incredibly difficult time managing her home life, young kids, and she now has to take care of them while having to take care of him. Right. Which is a very challenging job in terms of managing all the things that he has to manage. And so he was very concerned and was, was seeing signs of burnout in a way that he had not seen from her before. But she's a trooper and kind of wanted to keep going. And he finally had a conversation with her and said, look, you know, let's come up with a creative way where you can still support Me and. Right. So it's an and. And you can take care of whatever priorities you have at home. And what they ended up doing is she has reduced some of her work hours without impact on her payer performance and they've created a job sharing solution with another admin who did have some capacity. Right. So it took the fear out of her thinking, oh my God, does this mean eventually I'm going to lose my job? You know, there's no concern there. He's still getting what he needs. But it took some creativity and some adaptability. It's only one person. It was a small thing. They actually made some small, nuanced changes in her schedule. But it goes a long way. It goes a long way, but it took him being in tune with what's happening and recognizing that, yes, he's responsible for organizationally what needs to happen, but he can also create the small touch points.

I mean, everybody is sort of recalibrating their understanding of productivity and just really amping up their understanding of the work situations and home situations that employees are in. But when you're a new leader and you come in and you may have a new role over a new kind of department, and you may not totally know the jobs of the people who are on your team and working for you, I imagine that that's just really hard to assess and just having the confidence of knowing that no, this team can do more or no, I have to back off on the reins because of the situation. It just feels like it's a pretty hard thing to feel confident about for sure.

And I think it's one of those things that you can't assess in a vacuum. Right. What burnout is for me is going to be different than what it is for you. Everybody has a different threshold. Right. That tips to point over to really feeling burnout. And this has been the reality of it pre pandemic. But it's just again, there's a magnifying glass on it now because it feels like a more common issue that we're facing in a different way. I think the first thing is that leaders need to acknowledge and be aware if their people are facing fatigue or burnout or working at a pace that is too accelerated at this point in time. Do they just need a pause? Right. That's what I'm hearing. A lot of teams are saying we're okay with moving forward, but can we just have a temporary moment where we pause? And what would be the risk of that where we can just get a little bit of stability, test what we're working on, get a breathing moment and then we'll be ready. So no different than, you know, working out, catch our breath. But I think that, you know, the leader has to have a better understanding of what kind of burnout or fatigue are people experiencing it? Is it change fatigue? Is it that the workload has doubled? Is it, you know, the tiredness from being on Zoom all day? Is it the fatigue that comes from operating just under uncertainty? And whatever it is, they sort of have to diagnose it, right? And whatever it is, the leader has to acknowledge it, and then they have to move on to see what they can do within their control. That can take a bit of the pressure off. And I think the best way to figure that out is to ask, right? Those ideas aren't going to come up by the leader sitting by themselves in a room and conjuring them up. They've got to go out and ask, what ideas do you have? And then take those ideas and see what's doable and decides which ones they can implement. And my goodness, we talked about early wins. Make sure you're communicating that these things are actually being put into action.

What's the biggest mistake you see new leaders in new roles making right now?

Right now? I think the biggest mistake I see them making is that they have to approach their onboarding in the same way that they have onboarded every other role. They are hinging their success on what has made them successful in the past. And while a lot of those variables are going to be important, they need to understand that they're doing it in a different context. Again, it goes back to the, yes, these are the things that you need to do, but just understand that it's going to require some creativity and some adaptability so that you're delivering them potentially in a bit of a different way than you have in the past.

This is a really interesting leadership challenge, right, to take on a new role during this time. And you've done a really good job of, of talking about how it's different and the new demands it puts on people. There are some people who've stayed in their existing jobs longer, and I just wonder what you'd recommend to somebody if they have an opportunity at a new place during this time. Do you think that experience is going to be critical for any leader going forward to be able to handle a new team during a time of, of transition, or is it just a passing reality?

So I think that the question really becomes around what is the leader's capacity to handle change in a Big way. And that should really then help them decide whether they stay or they move. Because regardless, we have all experienced change. We've been forced to change. The question is, how do we handle it during. During this time? So whether they decide to stay in their role or move on to a different role, some change is still going to be required. And what, what I've seen is over the past year, I mean, it's. It's almost no coincidence, it sounds a little cliche now that, you know, the year was 2020, because, you know, it's the year of clarity, of vision, from my perspective. And if you can actually sit in the discomfort of change, you might learn some things about yourself that then leads you to make this decision of do I stay or do I go? So the question is, if you decide to stay or pursue new opportunities, my question back to any leader would be, how does that decision or that particular change lead you closer in alignment to what you see for yourself and. Or for what you see for your organization? Okay. You know where I'm seeing some folks getting clearer and. And it's very uncomfortable is recognizing that they might want different things than they thought they wanted. Right. If you had asked them two, three years ago. And so the decision is based more on that rather than, you know, am I going on to a bigger and better opportunity? I'm seeing a lot more introspection from leaders about what changes they need to make for themselves. And I encourage them to sit with that discomfort, be introspective, ask for the feedback to help inform these decisions, and then use that to help inform whatever actions they're going to take, whether it's an action about their organization or an action about their career move.

What are the biggest roadblocks that people seem to have when it comes to changing that way?

To changing? Yes. I mean, the first is, you know, what their mindset. The first roadblock, I would say, is what is their mindset as it relates to change. Some people, you know, one mindset is fearing change, which is a little bit of a delusion because things are always changing. I mean, nature changes, right? We don't control the seasons change. So change is around us all the time. So one of the biggest roadblocks is, you know, fear of change. And I think how you move through that is. Is. Is not seeing change as a way of losing something, but rather, can you see it as a path of growth and evolving. So it's more about broadening who you are and what you're capable of and what your experiences might be. And where you take the organization versus changing fundamentally who you are. Because at the end of the day, that's what, that's what people get concerned about when it comes to, you know, if I embark here, is it going to. Is it going to challenge what I fundamentally stand for, who I am as a leader, et cetera, et cetera? So I think the perspective around change is a big roadblock. The second is, the second biggest roadblock, I think, is if you find yourself in a situation where you're focusing on everyone else and not yourself. The reason why the organization can't get through this situation, this pandemic, this change, what we need to get through is because of everything that everyone else is doing potentially wrong. Rather than focusing on you first as a leader and saying, okay, what is within my control? How do I set the tone? What decisions do I need to make? Where do I need to step back? Where do I need to push forward? And making yourself the catalyst for what needs to happen, rather than focusing on everyone else and not taking a look at yourself.

Well, Muriel, it's been a pleasure. Thanks so much for coming on the show to talk about this.

Thank you. It's been a pleasure as well.

That's Muriel Wilkins, executive coach and host of the new HBR Presents podcast, Coaching Real Leaders. You can find it at hbr.org or wherever you get your podcasts, which might be where you're listening to this one right now. This episode was produced by Mary Dew. We get technical help from Rob Eckhart. Adam Buchholz is our audio product manager. Thanks for listening to the HBR IdeaCast. I'm Curt Nicken.