Leading When Everything Keeps Changing

There was a time when people knew what was expected of them.  Their father had been a carpenter. Their grandfather had been a carpenter.  And they were going to be a carpenter.  They probably lived in the same village, if not the same house, for generations.  This is the way life was done.  It was predictable.  And expectations were set over generations.  People knew how to behave and how to fit into the group.

Today, this isn’t the case.  Factories close.  Employees quit.  Organizations relocate.  Change is the nature of the game.

Which means that virtually every day someone new is coming into your organization, your team, or your sphere of influence.  The problem with newcomers isn’t’ a lack of skill, but rather a lack of knowing the rules.  In almost every social context there are different rules.  Sometimes these differences are subtle (like who gets to eat first at the dinner table), other times they are obvious (like a suit and tie culture vs. jeans and a t-shirt.)

So how do you keep leading when everything keeps changing?

The answer is to provide the right kind of feedback.

Why is feedback so important?  Because whenever someone comes to a new organization (or team) it’s a stressful experience.  We’ve all been the new person somewhere.  Maybe it was when we moved across town, or when we went to college, or when we just took a new job.  We entered those situations without really understanding what was expected.  We weren’t even sure what was “normal” for a particular group.  And we did our best to fit in.  Sometimes this worked, but sometimes it didn’t.  In many ways it seemed almost chance.

If you run a team (or a business), you can’t leave something like this to chance.  It’s too expensive.  And too inefficient.  Instead, you need to be proactive in your response to change.  Which means providing new members feedback.  Not any kind of feedback.  But developmental feedback.

Research has shown that when leaders give developmental feedback (information that is both useful and future-oriented), employees respond by engaging in more pro-organization behaviors.  They work a little harder.  They make better choices.  And they even go above and beyond their job descriptions. Which is exactly what you want out of a team.

There are two ways to provide this developmental feedback:

1. Leaders need to lead.  If you want people to “get with the plan,”  then you need to make sure you’re explaining the plan.  As a leader you have a unique opportunity to set expectations and the identity of a new team member.  Use that chance to teach them your culture, and how the team works.  This is the most important way to deliver feedback to your newcomers.  And it helps them integrate into the team. If you’re not willing to do this, who will be?

2. Involve the Community. While the community can never replace the impact of the leader, they do add something important to the mix.  They help newcomers learn social norms, get a grasp of the organizational culture, and teach expected behaviors.  Make sure your team is actively teaching new members what’s expected.  Make sure they’re focused on helping the new person understand the social expectations that guide the team and the organization.

In many ways this advice isn’t shocking.  We’ve known for a long time that setting expectations helps people do better work and achieve goals. But we almost never think of our groups having unique social norms and habits.  We assume that we’re “just like everyone else.”  Of course we aren’t.  We may, in fact, be very different.

So if you’re having problems integrating a new team member, start with the feedback, and make sure you’re focusing on their development.  You might just be surprised at how fast your team comes together.