Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
Marty, the hiring manager I coached, left a new company. Shortly after he started, he called me and it sounded like he was ready to cry.
“I made a horrible mistake in this job. I took over a plan for my company, but I didn’t know that at the time I took over the job, 80% of the budget funding had been spent, but only 20% of the job had been completed. The people who led it previously resigned and were moving forward elsewhere.”
“I’m the failed fall guy’.”
Often, when people start a new job, they ask their new boss or manager, just “tell me something about the job.” As a result, a new employee is turning a blind eye to what their new boss expects.
Instead, you should ask some questions to better understand your potential new role.
1. ‘Suppose you hire me and I join the boat. What are your expectations for the first 30, 60 and 90 days after I join?
First, it needs to be reduced to this point. Once you join, what will you actually do? How will they measure your success? When you are reviewed, you can determine your markings with certainty.
2. ‘What is my ex like? They did a good job? What can they do differently?
This will tell you whether they are promoted or transferred. Otherwise, you can assume they left a better job. What really matters is that they do well so that you can keep doing it, and what they do not do well, so you can avoid it.
3. “What do your (user, customer) think about the performance of (group, team, department)?”
This is slightly different from the question you asked earlier. This is a test of how the group is perceived, not your predecessor. Your ex may have created “bad news” about their team before leaving or transferring. They probably created great media for them. Knowing their views will tell you a lot about the brush you will be drawing.
4. ‘Suppose it’s a year after I joined, it’s time to comment for me for the first time. I didn’t do well. I exceeded expectations and was a good hire for you. What would I do and what would that make you think it was?
When you sit there and listen with a smile, sometimes you may hear something that surprises you: the unrealistic expectations of a manager or leader put you in a position that is difficult to succeed. Before joining, you need to know these expectations are much better than after revealing them.
If you will be managing or leading a group, department or business unit, consider asking:
5. What will my team look like? Who is the strong player? What are the flaws in the group you feel?
I recently coached a manager who took over a team run by employees and their former manager moved elsewhere for a year. He took over a group that might be a judgement on him, which was not used to professional management. Realizing this situation allows my clients and I to prepare for some of the issues that eventually surfaced.
9 ways people destroy themselves in interviews
6. ‘Who in the team needs motivation? Who has been inspired?
Most people, including the ones you are asking, will think these words are synonymous. Assuming the rest of your interview goes smoothly, the difference in defining words will set you apart from the others they interviewed. The previous one wealth 100 CEO and executive coach Dr. Lance Secretan described the motivation as lighting up a fire under someone. Inspiration is to light a fire within someone. Often, people who need motivation give up. Keep talking about how to find the inspired people in the interview because they have the motivation and fire inside, not those who need it.
Step into opportunities and understand what success is in your new role and organization, they need to be clear about the people they want and expect, and a team that has not been violated by organizational flaws – so many that they cannot be saved. Also, knowing where successful friction is can help you understand where the resistance is.
ⓒMajor Game Hunter Company, Asheville, North Carolina, 2019, 2021
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