New Leaders and Taking Command

One of my colleagues was discussing his being hired into a new organization. When he started he tried to model his work to those of the culture. Our professor asked about why we want to fit in an accomodate others when we start a new job.

I think it's like all new members to groups, there is a desire to fit in and please the group. In the military when there was a new leader for a squad, platoon, or company the first rule of thumb was to make no immediate changes. The leader was supposed to observe first before making any changes, especially major ones. 

Having taken on new positions in the past, I know there is a desire to mold the group in ways that you might have always wanted, to change things the way you might feel are necessary, to implement your vision. In my organization we provide leadership training for supervisors and field crew leaders and we discuss "transitioning to a leadership position," and the first thing we discuss is to do nothing but observe. New changes need to be sold, they need to be massaged to meet the needs of the organization, there may even need to be internal buy-in from the rest of the group for the changes to be successful. 

I think what my colleague described about his new role shows leadership maturity. Prior to making changes he is assessing and gauging the environment to be sure that his ideas are implemented successfully. It's the poor leader who comes in and immediately starts making changes without knowing the landscape. We had a new First Sergeant take over our Company when I was in the Military and he immediately started making changes. His changes took twice as long as otherwise and their was never any internal buy-in for them. His tenure was a failure for the most part. When I think about new leadership positions, it is this first sergeant I think about and his example reminds me to wait to make any changes.