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How to Fit In at a New Company |Dodging Landmines

"Don't come in swinging!" suggests Starla Sireno, executive coach at Fearlessness Inc. Instead, start by asking questions and observing. Look to the top level executives for clues about the corporate culture. Are they very informal, or do things seem more rigid? Be especially careful when changing industries. Everything, down to the way coworkers communicate, can be different.

Speaker: Starla Sireno, Trainer and Executive Coach, Fearlessness Inc.

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Tags: Executive, Leadership, Management, Fit In, new company, peers, manager, office politics, Dodging Landmines

 
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    Perigrinus

    05/26/09 | Report as spam

    RE: How to Fit In at a New Company |Dodging Landmines

    Hmmmm. This illustrates the problem with sound bites.

    The counterpoint to the thesis of this clip is that, if you do too much fitting in, you will very quickly become institutionalised.

    One of the great benefits that a newcomer brings to an organisation is a fresh view. So, whilst I agree that it's not smart to make waves for the sake of it, newcomers also need to challange the status quo in productive way.

    Balance in all things

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    2

    george bradt

    05/27/09 | Report as spam

    RE: How to Fit In at a New Company |Dodging Landmines

    This clip starts to discuss a crucial subject. It's important to go deeper on this subject.

    Culture can be referred to as ?the way we do things here?. It?s the combination of what people do and say with their underlying core values. While people generally learn about culture starting with the most superficial (what people ?say? about their culture), it?s rooted in what people really are, their core assumptions and beliefs. One good shorthand we learned from one of our clients is ?Be. Do. Say.? It works for people and for organizations:

    Be: The underpinning of culture (and integrity) is what people really are, their core assumptions, beliefs and intentions.

    Do: These are things that can be seen, felt or heard like behavioral, attitudinal and communication norms, signs and symbols like physical layouts, the way people dress, talk to each other and interact with each other.

    >b>Say: What people ?say? about their culture can be found in things like mission statements, creeds and stories. As Edgar Schein points out , these get at the professed culture.

    For a culture to be sustainable over time, these three must be in sync. It?s relatively easy to see when people?s actions don?t match their words. It?s far more difficult to figure out when their words and actions match each other but don?t match underlying assumptions and beliefs. Yet when that happens, those people?s words and actions will change over time. Just like your own values, actions and words need to line up, the same is true for an organization?s.

    (An excerpt from "The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan" (Bradt et al, Wiley 2009)

    George Bradt
    www.primegenesis.com

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    Warnluv

    10/16/09 | Report as spam

    RE: How to Fit In at a New Company |Dodging Landmines

    Great topic for these times. You would see great similarity to the process we would follow if asked to manage internationally (yes including Canada). Things like power distance (titles mean something or not), valuing individual effort vs. teamwork, being task oriented or more relationship/lifestyle oriented and avoiding uncertainty (no off the wall ideas) are the four pillars of what can help you understand the new culture you've been introduced to. For instance, I recall a job interview where it was clearly identified that a role was very competitive and not a "lifestyle" scenario. What if you could Know what you want in a work environment and then asked questions of your potential boss to case out the new job environment? To find out more about the use of this approach search on "Hofstede Dimensions". P.S. I read the 216 page dissertation so you wouldn't have to.

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How to Fit In at a New Company |Dodging Landmines

"Don't come in swinging!" suggests Starla Sireno, executive coach at Fearlessness Inc. Instead, start by asking questions and observing. Look to the top level executives for clues about the corporate culture. Are they very informal, or do things seem more rigid? Be especially careful when changing industries. Everything, down to the way coworkers communicate, can be different.

Music

>> Let's say I'm very new at the organization, but I've done all the right things. I mean, I read the mission statement, but what about all of those unwritten rules of conduct? How do I know what to say, how to act?

>> One of the biggest mistakes people make when they're new at an organization, is they just come in swinging. That is the worst thing you can do. Instead, what you need to do instead of doing and telling, and telling people what to do, what you need to do is step back, observe, ask question, and really listen. Figure out what's acceptable within an organization before you start taking action.

>> So what are some of the clues I should look for as to the identity of my organization?

>> Well there's really 2 ways that you can look at it. You can look at it really top level, from the corporate culture - what kind of organization is this? Is this a really informal, social, fun, creative type of place? Or is this this formal, kind of more rigid, structured organization where titles mean a lot? Is it a political place? These are the types of questions you have to ask yourself.

>> So what if I worked at a tech company in Silicon Valley, and I decide I'm gonna move to financial services in San Francisco? I mean, there are some big cultural changes there.

>> You're in for some serious cultural changes. A tech company is going to be more laid back, more creative, everything from how you dress to how you talk and interact is gonna be very different. In a financial services industry, it's all about credibility and so you manage people's money. So how you dress, how you act is gonna be much more formal and structured. Even how you communicate is going to be different. Instead of texting and IM-ing, in financial services there's regulations that say you're probably not gonna be able to do that. In summary, before you do anything in a new organization, step back, observe - observe the culture, observe the successful people - and then once you've figured it out, then you can take action.

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