The teams, they are a-changing ...!

Nov 25, 2024

3 min read

"No matter what your present level of leadership, the first hundred days of a new job holds both a unique window of opportunity and a heightened state of risk" (Thomas J. Neff and James M. Citrin).

That New Boss Smell

Ahhhh, that new boss smell! So prone to falling victim to a classic blunder (no, they did not begin a land war in Asia!)--taking action without understanding who the leaders are or the past. Honestly, of all the teams you have been a part of, what made them tremble the most? I will argue that established teams most often tremble at the thought of a new boss. Sometimes, it's because--as the old adage goes--"the devil you know is better than the devil you don't." Other times, the fear is simply that the new boss will upset the rhythm of the team. Truthfully, the team just does not know what the new boss will do. In my own leadership journey, my leadership was inadvertently undermined, my credibility damaged, and the overall strategy weakened twice, by two different bosses in two different locations.

Time #1--my direct report walked into the new boss' office and asked him for permission to do something. He gave her the go-ahead, not understanding she and I had already talked.

Time #2--I helped create and manage a retreat program for the Base Chapel. A relatively new team member met with the brand-new boss and asked for a different timetable for the retreats. The new boss said, "Yes," not understanding how the program had run in the past.

Transforming Culture

In their book, You're In Charge--NOW WHAT?, Neff and Citrin elaborate on the eight-point plan new leaders utilize in order to get out of a "temporary state of incompetence" and into great performance quickly. Point 5 is all about transforming culture, and this begins with listening in order to understand the lay of the land by asking questions, such as:

What is the culture?
Who are the leaders (both official and unofficial)?
What are the unwritten and unspoken conventions?
How has this been done in the past?

Uh-oh ... coulda, shoulda, woulda

In the first instance, my direct report and I had previously discussed her idea for a new project. Due to a lack of manning and the inability to sustain this project, I nixed the idea. When the new Wing Chaplain arrived and made himself available, she met with him and proposed the same idea for the new project. After discussion, the Wing Chaplain gave her the go-ahead. To be honest, she and I already had a contentious relationship, and his acquiescence to her request without understanding the leadership roles at play put a final nail in the coffin of our relationship.

In the second instance, I had been put in charge of creating, planning, and executing a Family Retreat Program. This program hosted about 40 families at the USPS Retreat Center in Oklahoma City. We ran this program every six months and had done so for two years. It was time for a newly arrived officer to handle the Retreat Program, and his idea was to move the timeline to once a year. However, he proposed this just as we were well into advertising and planning the next retreat in about six months. While open to the idea, the team decided to finish this retreat and then revisit the concept. And then, the new Wing Chaplain arrived, and the new program lead immediately hit the new guy up with his idea. Not understanding the past, how the program had been run, or any of the details, the new boss approved the change, and the retreat in process was canceled. About three months later, a Commander requested the retreat be held at the regularly scheduled time, and I was tasked to make it happen .... You can imagine the churn for the team, the team's families, and other ministries, which now had to take a back seat to these preparations.

Lessons Learned