Walk, Run or Just Sit Tight

Walk, Run or Just Sit Tight

If you’ve landed a new job lately (or it just feels that way) you may feel somewhat lost, a little befuddled, not quite sure how to proceed. One of best solutions to this conundrum is to just sit tight. Watching and observing don’t feel like much, but the value of just taking it all in, even if you’ve been there a while (though it those circumstances you might want to be a little less obvious), is tremendous.
    The problem with hitting the ground running is that you don’t always see the stuff that could make you stumble or, worse, tip you over as if you never saw it coming, whatever “it” was. Sometimes it’s overstepping your boundaries. In some cases, it’s not understanding a company’s culture or, worse, not even caring about the culture at all.
    In The Truth About managing Your Career, author Karen Otazo quips that the “main problem with hitting the ground running is that you don’t know what you’re running into?” Most people who take off without checking out their surroundings risk running into things, sometimes head-on, other times with more subtle and indirect consequences. Nevertheless, it’s best to assess your surroundings before making any brash moves. But the way one person assesses her surroundings is bound to be different than a colleague’s ideas about the same thing.
    Certainly, investing in some due diligence of your own is called for and part of that process should include asking questions of the right people. Of course if you ask too many questions, you might become known as a pest, so you’ve got to space this out. Another due diligence strategy would be to read everything you can get your hands on. Reading over old files is generally no one’s idea of a great time, but a little nugget of information could offer a year’s worth of perspective. Don’t be surprised, though, if the reading and reviewing feels like you’re slowing yourself down. I think that’s normal. I feel that way a lot when I need to ramp up quickly on a topic or a company or whatever, but I try to remind myself that sitting still, staying off the phone for a bit and keeping myself off the computer isn’t always a bad thing.
    In addition to getting up to speed by researching and listening to what people say (and aren’t saying)  you’ll want to find out how you’re doing even in those early months. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. People might be surprised, because it could be that you’re the first in a long time to do such a thing. It’s amazing, though, how receptive people are when others ask for their opinions. I think it’s probably due to the fact that it simply doesn’t happen very often.  And don’t underestimate the amount of data you might glean from a spontaneous encounter with a new colleague. Sure, you may surprise him with your curiosity, but in the long- and short-term you could be solidifying your position not just as a valuable member of a team but as someone other people like to be around.