Week 155

Positive post Sunday, February 2, 2020 Week 155. 

Little did I know when I accepted an intern position at SoCalGas over 35 years ago that I would begin a career that would span over 3 decades.  I am truly blessed and proud to work for a highly ethical, safety focused and customer and community-oriented company with amazing employees and a healthy and positive culture.  Our vision is to be the cleanest gas utility in North America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to our customers and our values are to Do the Right Thing, Champion People and Shape the Future,  

In addition to the strong company culture and incredible colleagues, one of the things that has kept me at SoCalGas for so many years is the opportunity for growth both personally and professionally.  I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to lead many different departments across the company in very diverse disciplines.  Changing leadership positions roughly every 3 years, often with completely different and new responsibilities, has been both challenging and reinvigorating.  Some changes have felt like complete career changes (e.g. marketing to operations or technical services to customer services or customer programs and assistance to safety and emergency management).

Although the circumstances have been different in each leadership change, I have found that certain steps can help make any leadership transition more successful.  Here is a list of my top ten steps for navigating through the early stages of a leadership change.

1. Thank new boss and the good Lord for the opportunity to grow and learn
2. Prepare both physically and mentally for the change which can be stressful
3. Leverage network of mentors and coaches for support
4. If not in crisis, take time to assess the organization before making significant change
5. Be visible, accessible and transparent with employees
6. Partner with new boss and leadership team to develop a clear plan and expectations 
7. Execute and communicate the plan across and down the organization
8. Make sure to have the appropriate metrics in place to evaluate success
9. Celebrate early wins and key milestones, recognizing those that contributed
10. Adjust leadership team and organization as necessary to ensure sustainable success 

Here are a few resources I have used and that you might find helpful if and when you take on a new leadership role.  

Michael Watkins’ book “The First 90 Days”.  Here is a summary video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldun2WC-amU

This book is helpful with accelerating the typical 6.2-month break-even point of giving more value to the organization than received when transitioning into a new leadership role. Each chapter focuses on one of ten key transition strategies.  Michael has recently published a new book, “Master Your Next Move: Proven Strategies for Navigating the First 90 Days” that offers an 8-element framework and supporting set of tools that can help speed the transition for 8 common types of transitions.

Bob Ronan’s article “6 Tips to Help You Excel in a New Leadership Role”.  Here’s the link: https://www.cio.com/article/3041123/6-tips-to-help-you-excel-in-a-new-leadership-role.html

Carolyn O’Hara’s article “What New Team Leaders Should Do First”.  Here’s the link: https://hbr.org/2014/09/what-new-team-leaders-should-do-first

How have you prepared for the next chapter in your career or life?  What tools do you have in your toolbox to support and ensure a successful transition?