When you step into a new position, you’ll feel you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. Many responsibilities of the job will be out of your comfort zone. Feeling confident in performing your duties may take several months. You’ll sense you have more work than ever, which will be overwhelming. Feeling like an impostor and regretting leaving your former position is natural.
Sure, the brutal reality is that new hires have less time than ever to prove their worth, and you’ll be expected to show results almost from day one. Be patient with yourself and transparent with others while you’re still finding your feet. You’ll go through four stages of progression in a new role:
- Unconscious Incompetence: You won’t know what you don’t know, and you’ll feel functionally useless
- Conscious Incompetence: You’ll know what you don’t know and what you’ll learn
- Conscious Competence: You’ll know your job but have to work hard at doing it correctly
- Unconscious Competence: You’ll know your job and can do it on autopilot.
Changing any job, even within a company, is a slow process. Keep a low profile, spend most of your time listening, building a network, cultivating essential relationships, and strategizing your case for change. Work out who within the company is respected and who knows what they’re talking about as quickly as you can—they’re the ones you’ll learn from. Identify where you fall short and who can fill the gaps.
Idea for Impact: Don’t try to do everything right away. As you develop a roadmap for your organization, focus on building the connections to help you thrive. Understanding who must be won over to your point of view is vital for managing the change process.