Fortnightly notes for new leaders

Hello Sam,

Welcome, and thank you for signing up. Every other Thursday I send one short email for people in the first year of a bigger leadership role: one idea, one tool and one question. I mention my own coaching only occasionally, and I will always say so. If it is not useful, unsubscribe at any time and I will not mind.

Before the first issue arrives, here is one thing to try this week.

**Write a one-page note on what your role must deliver this year.**

Use three headings:

1. What this role must deliver in the next twelve months, in two sentences.
2. How I think success will be judged, and who will judge it.
3. What I will stop doing, hand over or say no to to make room.

It should take about an hour. Don't polish it. Then book 30 minutes with your manager and say, "I've written down how I understand the role. Can we check I've got it right?"

Two people can read the same job description and picture different jobs. This conversation is how you find out, and it is much cheaper in the first three months than the sixth.

If you would like to check where you stand first, the Leadership Transition Check takes about five minutes: https://staging-tessa.vulpesco.dev/leadership-transition-check/

Next in a few days: the thing most new leaders put off, which is handing things over.

Tessa

Hello Sam,

A promotion rarely comes with a list of what to stop doing, so the old job quietly stays on your desk and the new one gets whatever is left. This email is about putting some of it down.

**Your task this week: choose three things to hand over.**

Look at your diary and your to-do list and pick three tasks, reports or meetings that someone else could do about as well as you. For each, write down:

- **Who** takes it, and why them (skills, interest, capacity, development).
- **What good looks like**, in a sentence.
- **When you will check in**, as a date in the diary.

Then have the conversation. A useful opening: "I'd like you to take this on. Here is what a good result looks like, and here is how much freedom you have. Shall we look at how it is going on Thursday week?"

One rule: when you hand something over, leave the next move with them. If they come back with "what should I do?", ask what they would suggest first. William Oncken and Donald Wass wrote the classic article on this in Harvard Business Review, using the image of a monkey for the next move on a task. Don't take other people's monkeys home.

I wrote more about delegation here: https://staging-tessa.vulpesco.dev/writing/how-do-you-delegate-when-you-are-new-to-a-senior-role/

Next: the peers whose work yours depends on.

Tessa

Hello Sam,

Much of a senior role is getting things done through people who don't report to you. That works best when you have a working relationship with them before you need something.

**Your task this week: book 30 minutes with each peer your results depend on.**

Start by listing them: the colleagues in other functions whose work yours depends on, or who depend on yours. Aim for five or six names, not twenty. Then send a short message: "I'm still getting my bearings in the role and would like 30 minutes to hear how things look from your side. Could we find a time in the next fortnight?"

In the conversation, ask:

1. What do you need from my area, and what should I do more or less of?
2. What is getting in your way at the moment?
3. What should I know that isn't written down?
4. Who else should I talk to?

Then mostly listen. Write down what you hear and one thing you will do as a result. Do it, and tell them. That is how trust starts.

If you want a structure for deciding who to see first and how often, my article on stakeholder mapping has one: https://staging-tessa.vulpesco.dev/writing/how-do-you-map-stakeholders-when-you-start-a-new-leadership-role/

Next: the one that makes the others possible.

Tessa

Hello Sam,

The last of the four starter emails is the one that decides whether the other three happen. If every hour is booked, nothing you learn can turn into a better decision.

**Your task this week: block two hours for thinking.**

Put a two-hour block in the diary, in the part of the week when you think best. Call it something plain. Before it begins, write down the one question you will work on: a decision you are avoiding, the team's priorities for the next quarter, or a conversation you need to prepare for. When it starts, turn off notifications and leave your desk if you can.

Expect your first block to be moved. When it is, move it to another slot the same week; don't delete it. After four weeks, ask yourself whether it helped.

Two more things. First, name one person outside your reporting line you could ask for honest advice about the role, and tell them. Second, if you are feeling worn down, not just busy, speak to your GP. In England you can also refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies. Coaching supports how you lead, but it is not therapy.

**A no-pressure invitation.** If you would like to talk through where you are in the role, I offer a free 30-minute discovery call. You tell me what's going on, I'll say honestly whether coaching would help, and if not, I'll suggest something that might. There is no obligation and nothing to buy on this website. You can ask for one here: https://staging-tessa.vulpesco.dev/book/

From now on you'll get one issue every other Thursday. You can reply to any of them. I read every reply.

Tessa