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Five Things Never, Ever To Tell Your New Boss

This article is more than 7 years old.

Dear Liz,

I have been devouring your columns which so often speak to my career situation or frame of mind. Right now I am in the midst of big changes at my job.

My first manager in this company, "Kevin," was a good guy but he retired a few years ago. The new manager was "Becky" but she was in way over her head and they eased her out within six months.

Everybody said the same thing about Becky: "She is smart, sweet, very capable and a great leader but this is not the job for her." Coming from way behind in our subject matter Becky was struggling terribly. She and I still keep in touch.

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After Becky, they promoted "Carl" to lead our team. Carl was a consultant for our company at one point so most of us knew him. He would probably have done a good job but he got hired away by a huge bank after he was here for maybe seven or eight months.

Then we got "Phil." Phil is my current boss. Phil was hired to clean up the problems that arose and got worse while Becky and Carl were here.

I supported Phil and so did my co-workers, but he was a guy who wanted to dial it in. He did not want to work. He didn't want to attack our problems even though our team would have done all the hard work for him.

Phil announced his retirement two weeks ago and we all high-fived him and high-fived each other because with Phil out of the picture maybe we can finally get past our obstacles.

Now they are interviewing for a new manager. The Director and our VP took our team to one of the nicest restaurants around here and apologized for number of new managers who have come and gone.

That was a nice gesture. No one one our team wants the manager job, although as management jobs go there's nothing wrong with the position.

Here's my question: How much of the history of our troubled department should I share with our new manager once they arrive? How much of our history is it appropriate to talk about?

I don't want to be a gossip but understanding the back story will make a huge difference in our new manager's ability to succeed -- at least in my opinion.

What do you think, Liz?

Thanks!

Sincerely,

Mimi

Dear Mimi,

It is wonderful that after all the shakes and shocks and twists and turns in your team's history, you are still open to partnering with and supporting your new manager.

Any new employee walks into a strange environment and is immediately assaulted with sights, sounds, personalities, data and energetic waves that could easily knock a person over.

That's why starting a new job is almost always overwhelming. We call the information overload in those early days on a new job "Drinking from a fire hose."

Your new manager will first need time to get settled physically in his or her office or work space, meet you and your teammates as well as other folks in your company and gain a basic understanding of who does what.

They will need to take in and integrate the meetings they're expected to attend, the metrics by which they and your team will be measured, the company's goals and their goals and a million other data points and sensations.

You have to give them time.

It is lovely of you to think about your new manager's feelings and his or her success. A great way to support a new manager is just to introduce yourself with your name and your position, and then to say "I've been here for a while, I'm happy to answer your questions and I'm very glad you are here."

That is a great message for a new manager to hear when they are stepping into a potentially thorny situation.

Let your manager approach you for more information about you and your role, the department and its challenges, the department's history and other excerpts from the encyclopedia of knowledge and wisdom that you carry around in your head after all the experiences you've had.

Let your manager ask for more info, because new employees in any position can only retain so much information.

I would be surprised if three or four months go by without your new manager asking you or one of your colleagues (or the whole group of you at your next lunch or dinner outing), "So, what are the big events, currents and trends in the company that I should know about? What happened before I got here?"

Then you can lay out your favorite stories.

It is tempting to want to regale a new manager with tons of information about your team and their predecessors. It's best to proceed slowly and cautiously with maximum sensitivity to your new manager's emotions and thought process.

If there was a beloved manager in your department's past, please help your co-workers to remember not to tell the new manager "I hope you're like Sheila -- we loved her! She was the greatest manager ever. We'll probably never have another manager like her."

Managers are people -- it pays to remember! They have feelings.

Here are five things never, ever to tell your new manager:

1. Just so you know, not everybody in the department does the same amount of work. A few of us do all the work while the rest of the employees slack off.

2. You have your work cut out for you. Our department has a lot of problems.

3. Now that you're here, can you please ask Facilities to move me into Nora's old cube near the window? I've been waiting five months for the Director to find a new manager so if you could make that a priority I'd be very grateful.

4. Aren't you a little young to have your job?

5. Three other managers tried this job before you and didn't make it, so I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you. I'm just telling you for your own good.

As long as you take your new manager's perspective as often as possible and remember that there are few hills as steep as the operational/technical/cultural learning curve in a new job, you and your new manager will be fine.

All the best,

Liz

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