By Jackie Ogden
So, you’ve landed your first leadership role. Congratulations! And…yikes.
In 1993, the San Diego Zoo took a risk. They put a person with minimal leadership experience — me — in charge of the Children’s Zoo. This included a team of about 30 people, some of whom had been working longer than I’d been alive. My previous leadership roles were scant — basically managing research volunteers and running a tiny department in a market research firm. My background included animal behavior and organizational psychology and I had some solid basic talents, like relationship skills. But they took a major chance on me. I had no clue how to manage a large team, a collection of animals, and a significant budget. And, of course, there was minimal direction and no training.
I made many mistakes, and have since often said, “I wish somebody had told me back then about [fill in the blank].” So, here are five of the most important things I learned along the way; hopefully there are some nuggets that are helpful.
Lesson #1: This is exciting. Try to enjoy the leadership journey.
Presumably you worked hard to get into a leadership role, so revel in your achievement a bit. You’re now in a position to influence actions more directly and do some good for the world. Over time, you will find that this is fun. You will learn a ton. Yes, you will make mistakes, and that’s okay. In fact, it’s necessary — it’s how you get better as both a leader and a person. To use a few overused metaphors: You are in this for the long haul, it’s a marathon not a sprint, etc. etc.
Starting a new leadership position can be overwhelming. I still remember sitting at my desk, knowing I needed to order some stuff — hay, dirt, tools — and having no idea how to do so. Take a breath and give yourself grace. Ask for help. Remind yourself that you have the tools to succeed, and everything will come more easily with time.
Lesson #2: Know thyself, and get comfortable with your imperfections.
To be great requires working continuously to get better. (Obvious, right?) Your distinct brand of great leadership will look different than anyone else’s. Some leadership traits are more universal than others, but being a great leader depends on your unique talents and strengths, what drives you, the skills you still need to hone, and your strategies for self-improvement.
You need a continuous inventory of where to focus on growth and self-development. A dear friend who is also an amazing parent told me that they picked one “developmental opportunity” each year they would focus on for each child. How can you take this approach for yourself? Some people are born with strong self-awareness, but most of us…not so much. And that’s okay. There are tons of tools out there to better understand your personality, strengths, and weaknesses: DISC, Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, CliftonStrengths (my personal favorite). The key is using these assessments to reflect on your core skills and areas where you could use some more development.
Feedback also helps. Does your organization do 360s? Are there people you can trust to regularly give you feedback on key things you’re working on? Can you set up a monthly, quarterly, annual session with your team (or others), where you create a safe space for them to give you feedback? (I like the “What should I stop? What should I continue? What should I start?” model).
Once you know what you want to focus on, think about how you learn. Do you read books? Listen to podcasts? Talk to people? Observe others? Know that improving on anything is more straightforward when you have a basic level of talent/ability in that area. If not, it may require extra effort, more training, or intentionally seeking out others with this ability to help you fill in your gaps.
Beware: Learning can be exhausting and can lead to a spiral of self-criticism if you’re not careful. How do you manage this? Find your community and keep them close. Leadership can be lonely, and you need a support system. Whom can you rely on to be there when you want to pull your hair out because you have no idea how to order decomposed granite (or…even know what decomposed granite is)? Whom can you ask for free consulting advice? Who is your go-to cheerleader when you’ve had a tough day?
Lesson #3: Once you know yourself as a leader (at least a bit), prepare to share who you are.
I used to “wing it” when I talked to my team. But then I froze when a team member asked what my vision was on Day 1. So, before you even officially step into the role, think in advance about your vision, your goals for the team/department, and your expectations for the team.
Your Day 1 conversation with your team is critical. Here are some thoughts on a possible approach:
- Share your background (briefly!)
- Share what your “why” is — what inspires you?
- Highlight two or three of your key guiding principles, focusing on those that you want them to emulate (e.g., assume positive intent).
- Acknowledge that you are human and will make mistakes.
- Acknowledge that these are uncertain times, which can make things tougher, but that you’re here to be a resource and leader.
- End on how excited you are to work with them. What are you looking forward to?
Over the next month, take the time to share your expectations. What does great performance look like to you? How do you want your team to communicate with you, and with each other? How do you want them to treat each other? What annoys you (e.g., gossip) and how can they know you’re annoyed?
Lesson #4: Get to know your team — the individuals, their passions, and their needs.
As a new leader, you need to understand the strengths of your team and the challenges facing them. You need to know where they believe you should focus. I admire leaders who meet with each person on their team, and have tried to do this myself. Because I’m naturally shy, I learned to come with a few safe questions to ask, along the lines of:
- “Where are you from?”
- “What got you into this field?”
- “If you were royalty for a day, what would you do?”
- “What gets you up in the morning?”
- “What keeps you up at night?”
Listening is key. And listening may actually be rocket science. A colleague and dear friend once told me that she had come to believe that unless she was willing to change her mind, she wasn’t really listening. Additionally, you need to pay attention. One of my leaders observed that I wasn’t great at that. She realized I was often “not present” — that I was focused on what I was going to say next, rather than what the other person was saying (especially when I was anxious or uncomfortable, which was most of the time as a new leader). I have since been on a journey to be present with people. It is one of the most valuable things I have ever worked on, although it will always be a work in progress. When I am successful, it is the closest I get to truly listening.
Lesson #5. Get to know the existing culture of your team. Know how you impact it, and know what kind of culture you want.
Every organization has a culture — effectively its “personality:” values, practices, etc. So does every team or department. I came to understand that my actions impacted that culture, whether I wanted them to or not.
Amazingly, my Children’s Zoo team demonstrated this on Day 2 through a seemingly small interaction. I joined the team for lunch (see Lesson #4), and they asked what I was going to have. One person commented that they had heard I’d had nachos yesterday. They were right, but I had eaten alone in my office that first day — how the heck did they know what I’d eaten? Come to find out that one of the team members (an absolutely delightful person who was one of our groundskeepers) had emptied my trash and told folks about my lunch choice. (Maybe they were worrying about my diet choices; who knows?) But the critical piece was the message: They paid attention to what I was having for lunch. Enough to talk about it. This was my first lesson that as a leader, people are *always* watching you.
Over time, I understood how I unintentionally shaped the behavior of the team and realized that it could be useful to do so intentionally. This meant that I needed to think seriously about the kind of culture I wanted to create, and about what behaviors were most likely to build that culture. As an example, I began realizing that if I wanted a culture where…
…people were kind and compassionate, I’d better stop joining in on snarky conversations. Even if it was fun in the moment, these conversations created the impression — well, if she said that about Fred, what does she say about me?
…people were respectful of others, I’d better speak up when people dissed others, they disregarded their colleagues’ perspectives, or they shared potentially hurtful “jokes.”
…people addressed their own conflicts directly, I’d better stop trying to fix things for them.
You get the idea. I wish I had been intentional about this from the beginning, instead of stumbling upon the lesson. You are always a role model for your team, and that’s a powerful position to be in — use it wisely.
Phew. So there are a few of my lessons. What I know for sure is that you are on an exciting journey — one that should be fulfilling, fun, and challenging, and one that will help you grow as a leader and as a person. Please do your best to enjoy the experience; this will not only have a positive impact on your team, but it will certainly improve your experience as well.
Were these lessons helpful? Anything I didn’t cover here that would be useful in a future piece? Please reach out. I realize that many no longer have my email (that pesky retirement thing) — it’s jogden391@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
— Jackie Ogden
