Get sick, be nervous
Hands shaking, stomach churning, heart fluttering, nerve racking, muscle tensing pressure. This can be the experience of a new job - and it is a good thing. Job starts can be difficult because it is at this point that the most uncertainty lays and everything up until here is history. The path is open but a lack of definition obscures the view like a heavy fog whilst the mind simultaneously questions skillset, experience and the ability to perform tasks that are still largely unknown. Discomfort is the normal state when uncertainty is present and the nerves can provide a form of energy rather than act as a facilitator of dread. Like a flashing amber light, these feelings are a caution signal. Be aware, be prepared, be agile.
Know your skills, start achieving
You were chosen to fill the position for a reason and even if doubt as to why lays in the back of your mind, understanding what strengths you bring to the table can help you take first steps and get some early wins. Early wins can help you in several ways such as balancing your initial steps, confidence building, foundation for future opportunity, position justification and networking influence. Knowing your personal processes - how you learn, how you react, how you manage emotions, where strengths lay and which weakness leaves holes - helps build priority points for what to start on, how to approach, how to manage and where to direct actions. Understanding yourself gives you both a base from which to operate and expand upon as well as a fall-back position on which you can rely if required by the situation.
Find holes, plant seeds, get growing
With any new job, especially the high-value, challenging kind that makes you stretch, there is likely to be many gaps in knowledge and skills which cannot be pre-closed. So, be prepared to learn. Most learning, like uncertainty, is uncomfortable because it is filled with unknowns, failures and takes investment to develop towards proficiency with little immediate pay-off. The understanding of what to learn can be discovered by identifying key players, observing the culture and asking questions from influencers on where they see things currently and where they are both expecting and directing things to go.
Develop quick and smart - prioritise first
There will be a large list of gaps and it is both impractical and unwise to attempt to close them all simultaneously. Prioritise them from critical (obtain quickly) to trivial (can wait) and further categorise them into opportunity to build, investment required to develop and precision needed to operate effectively. Some will need immediate and full attention while others can be postponed. A few may require fast action but average quality and some others may need high investment in learning the basics but require little need for detail. Whatever the variables, learn them.
Apply fast and small
As skills are acquired, tasks learned and processes formed, apply them quickly. Become accustomed to using your growing skillset by applying them to smaller tasks often so that comfort and confidence builds, small achievements are felt and modest results are seen. Stay aware through the entire process so that you can both witness the progress and identify possibilities to further tune your personal processes. Observing and adjusting process means that with each instance, learning efficiency increases. Actively building a relevant toolbox helps secure the quick wins and demonstrates to your direct network the ability to learn, proactivity and a willingness to grow independently. This leads to opportunity, expansion, and future influence within the system.
Name, skills, needs
The names and titles of colleagues are just the anchor points on which the web is hung. Networking is about identification, cooperation and connection. Your network is your resource pool from which support can be found and ideas spring. Identify skills and make your skills known through observation, conversation and most importantly, demonstration. When in need, find the complementary skills within the network that fit requirements and reciprocate when possible. Work together with openness and integrity and all parties benefit. Even if there is no direct benefit for you, connect nodes of the network that can cooperate and benefit each other. Creating the handshakes that build strong, mutually beneficial relationships solidifies your value to the group. If networking is one of your uncomfortable areas, get researching and practising as soon as possible. There are many good resources and coaches that can offer advice in these matters, use them.
Fail. Learn. Repair.
With so much uncertainty, many unfamiliar tasks, cultural variances and unforeseen challenges hidden behind corners, failure is guaranteed. Fail well. Resilience is built upon the back of adversity and mistake and the ability to persevere, adapt or let go are skills worthy of continual development. Professional freedom comes with responsibility and with responsibility comes consequences. Rather than lay blame or have excuses for failure, use your energy to learn and repair the damage. Fail, learn, repair. Fail. learn, repair. Make this part of your personal mantra for managing the failure of all things, irrespective of size. At times, it may require the support of your network and at other times the weight may lay squarely on your shoulders, whichever it is, make your process for dealing with failure one that turns all failure into a learning experience and skill development exercise.
Love it
Whether today is the first day of a new job, the last day of an old or any day in between, do what you need to do, learn what you need to learn and enjoy the experience you both receive from and provide to your environment. Every start will have an end which will be followed by another start. With experience and development, beginnings will still be uncomfortable, but each time in new ways that widen and deepen your processes and understanding.
Taraz