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S3,E10 The Career Coven: The First 30 Days
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In the final episode of season 3, Annie and Bec discuss how to approach your first 30 days in a new role. This obviously differs from place to place, and organisation to organisation. Bec gives great tips from the perspective of starting in a larger organisation, whilst Annie gives her best advice having more recently started a new role.
Tune into this episode if you want to hear about;
- Getting the basics of an organisation down - org chart, financials, strategy decks
- Ideas on how to introduce yourself
- Different ways to get to know new colleagues, and build trust
- Mapping relationships within an organisation, and the different stakeholders
- How to go about understanding your initial priorities, and setting your first goals
Enjoying this content? Please rate and subscribe on your preferred platform, and let us know what you think!
Recommendations from this episode:
- McKinsey Report on Onboarding
- Michael Watkins: “The First 90 Days”
- Joanna Lipman and Erika Andersen: Highlight learning agility and asking great questions
Recommended
Transcript
Season Three Finale and Personal Milestones
00:00:06
Speaker
So today's episode is the last one of season three. We really hope that you have enjoyed this season of The Career Coven. It has been recorded across 2025, which was the year of Beck's mat leave and Annie's weddings and a lot of other things around our sweet little pod. So we really hope that you have enjoyed the content and we thank you for listening as far as the final episode of season three. We will be back on the flip side with season four in a few months, but um yeah, we hope you enjoy this final episode and thanks for being
00:00:47
Speaker
Great
Introduction to The Career Coven Podcast
00:00:48
Speaker
listeners. Hello and welcome to The Career Coven, the podcast for serious careers with unserious chat. I'm Bec, a coach, corporate citizen and recovering perfectionist. And I'm Annie, a workaholic learning boundaries. Each episode we unpack career challenges and workplace wisdom through honest conversations, practical tools and a healthy dose of real talk so you can thrive on your own terms. Let's get into it
Personal Updates from Annie and Bec
00:01:12
Speaker
today. how the hell are you?
00:01:16
Speaker
I am doing great. I went to my culty spin class and um it was extremely hard, this one. And I was like, maybe I don't love the cult anymore. So, but do you know what? It wasn't a SoulCycle one, so they can still sponsor us.
00:01:34
Speaker
Okay, great. Good news. How are you? What's happening in your world? No, I'm good. We're getting closer to my wedding. So there's an ever mounting list of tasks. I'm a couple of weeks away from the old dress fitting moment, which I think is a biggie. But I still seem to be eating like a normal amount. So at least I haven't kind of lost my lost my head over my
The First 30 Days in a New Job
00:01:59
Speaker
dress fitting. I can confirm I think I'm being incredibly practical and normal about it all. So that's really that's really it for me. I don't have much...
00:02:07
Speaker
I don't have much of interest in terms of updates today. So sorry for that. Sorry about that. But I think we should just get into today's content, which is the first 30 days in a new job.
00:02:21
Speaker
I mean, i had literally just off mic said, Annie, you've just started a job and actually it's it's not actually a new job anymore, but you have more recently started a job. So we're going to be leaning on you today.
00:02:36
Speaker
And I've started a lot of jobs. I mean, I've had a lot of different jobs. So, you know, I feel quite comfortable being a lentil for this month. I mean, I feel like having a strong start is a pretty powerful entry into a new organisation, a new role. You could also like restart. Could you restart your role? Could you have a second first 30 days? Well, I'm literally considering this right now. Let's just say that is top of the mind, whether I can just wipe the slate clean and restart my role literally tomorrow. So maybe this will inspire me, this conversation. i think probably in a way you can.
00:03:16
Speaker
like reset at different points. And definitely if you get like a promotion or something, I think you can consider that as a new, like first 30 days, which might be quite a useful way to kind of level up and or change the way you think and do things with a promotion. But that's not, that's not what's happening with me to
Returning from Maternity Leave
00:03:35
Speaker
be clear. No promotion. like I mean, I'm going, I'm going to have a first 30 days going back from mat leave. So yeah you definitely are.
00:03:42
Speaker
You definitely are. you're going to inspire me today. And, you know, i ah do think it's, it makes such a big difference. I've watched someone shout out to Kim, if she's listening, who I covered for mat leave and her first 30 days when she returned from mat leave was like,
00:03:58
Speaker
Amazing. Loved it. So a strong return as well as a strong start. Great point. It's a really great point. I think there are, lot you know, there are lots of professionals in the world who say this is really important, McKinsey and so on. um Their advice is sort of fairly similar around showing kind of personal effectiveness, promoting early wins and and listening and and building building kind of stakeholder relationships. Yeah.
00:04:28
Speaker
Is that where you're coming from on this? Yeah. So i am I really felt like when I was reading your kind of prep notes for this and doing my own research, I really felt that I have continually been given fairly good advice on how to start in new jobs.
00:04:44
Speaker
And I have never, ever taken it. i um So I do think it's really important to know who's who and get to know people differently.
00:04:56
Speaker
build some, frankly, social capital, as well as just understand what is actually happening around you. I'm someone that I would say I am always in a rush, always in a rush to get going. So i think my own self-reflection on my first, all of my first 30 days would be chill out, but you know, get to know people.
00:05:19
Speaker
But yeah, I think, I think there is, there is certainly a clear topic in everything you read on this, which is like state, a version of stakeholder mapping, right? Like you will probably in your first week have a meeting with your like line manager and they will give you a list of names and they'll say, meet these people.
00:05:40
Speaker
And sometimes they'll tell you why. Why you have to meet these people. Sometimes they won't. Sometimes they'll just be like, here's the list. Just, just find them on Slack or find them on teams and just meet them. Obviously a little more guidance can be kind from a line manager, but also maybe it's also kind of interesting to find out why.
00:05:59
Speaker
someone has told you to meet them. So yeah you've got to get that
Understanding Company Structure and Role Expectations
00:06:04
Speaker
list of names. And if you don't get given it, definitely ask for it on your first date from the person who hired you, because whoever they say is is likely to be some of the stakeholders that you have to map.
00:06:15
Speaker
And then I think another good tip that I didn't generally follow, but is like, who else should I meet? So asking everyone that you do meet, who else should I meet and why? And then you get a sense of like,
00:06:30
Speaker
oh, so this person owns this, but they think that these people are really great. And then you're getting like two layers of, you might meet the person who's accountable, but then you might also want to meet the people responsible for delivering all the all the work. So I think a version of,
00:06:47
Speaker
Meeting all the key direct people you have to interact with is kind of table stakes and completely normal. But then I think that you have to find like the unsaid people and try and meet them as well and understand why they're important and kind of map them into to your stakeholder level.
00:07:06
Speaker
org thing that you're creating. Do you agree? I definitely agree. i think it's a good time to just sort of also just get a bit of a feel for the goss.
00:07:17
Speaker
in in a It's a good time because no one, like you're on no one's side, you're fresh meat. People will be like, I can i can work with this person to my advantage. And and like I think just, A, be live to that's probably happening and they will want to get things out of you and they will want to kind of get you onto whatever their objective is, which they may or may not reveal to you. So like I sort of look at it as a bit of a sort of sizing each other up, but it's a great time to sort of suss out what's going on a bit. The other thing that I would say is, i mean,
00:07:52
Speaker
This probably really varies depending on the size of organization because in a big org, like you'll basically just be doing like three to four weeks of stakeholder meetings and start doing some work in there. But in a smaller organization, there's probably just actually fewer people to meet, which, you know, it's it's kind of helpful but i think the other thing that i would do in my first week is basically just like acclimatizing just want to like sponge up some important stuff so like get whatever strategy decks you can get a hold of yeah i would look at like any any finance kind of statements or submissions look at god an elusive org chart like all charts as aside
00:08:31
Speaker
why they I've never found one of those, the org chart. I've always been looking for the org chart and I've never found one that makes remotely any sense. I don't know why just like organisations can't solve this problem of having an actual org chart. But like if you can find one, great. They're normally out of date or like... someone's been fired or someone's retired or like someone's been promoted and there's a vacancy or like whatever. So that's like maybe unrealistic to say get an org chart. But like, you know, this is also the kind of thing that you just, you wish could be just straightforward. Maybe that's a whole business idea. How do we just get places to have org charts? And the other things that I would do would be to just like work out where to eat lunch and get a good coffee and just, you know, settle in. You're... Yeah, you've got to find your places. You're in your domain. You don't want to get stuck with like a shit coffee for the rest of your working life just because you you couldn't be bothered. That's also a good thing to ask people. Yeah. And then the other thing that I would do is just like...
00:09:30
Speaker
be really clear with your line manager and like and just understanding their expectations of the role. Cause also might've changed since you last spoke to them. Like you might've last spoken to them more or less after the interview. And that could have been three to six months ago. So like the world will have moved. So I would just get a kind of a good lay of the land of what's going on and, and and like meet your team properly and just sort of do that boring admin of like setting up one-to-ones and that kind of stuff. I agree.
00:09:57
Speaker
Agree. There's a lot of there's a lot of that. And yeah, and I think if you don't get given set goals, well, a goal for your first month, or a set of goals, like you should, you should kind of force, you should come up with them yourself and agree them with your line manager. So some managers will just give you what they what they expect you to do.
00:10:17
Speaker
um I
Building Trust and Engaging with Management
00:10:18
Speaker
think the more senior you you get, the less likely that that is going to be given to you. But you certainly need to, I think at the end of 30 days, be able to show some kind of progress, even if it is just on like, these are the areas I want to focus in on, because I think there's a problem here, more opportunity there, X, Y, Z. so you definitely need an output. And I would, I would encourage you to agree that with whoever your manager is.
00:10:45
Speaker
Totally agree. One last one, minor point, but I think it's worth sending an email intro out if your line manager doesn't do that for you. i think people always really remember these, especially if you put something interesting in, but like, don't be weird about it. When I started at Disney, there was like, honestly, there was something I was most stressed about. They were like, what's your favorite Disney character? We're putting it in your intro email. And i was like, obviously I just want to say Cruella, but that might paint me in a weird light. So I like, I fully chickened out and said Baloo to,
00:11:14
Speaker
Very different. Yeah, I know. But like, was like, i can't be projecting Cruella. Like that's not how you win friends and influence people at Disney. That's like how you get put on naughty list. But yeah, I think something interesting. I mean, i also worked in a place when someone who started in their first week put on Slack, like I do a weekly quiz every Friday and then they just did it in the team channel. And i was like, you're such a loser.
00:11:43
Speaker
Yeah. And then I really enjoyed it and I regretted thinking that. So if you're listening, I don't think you're a loser. I take it back. You liked it. You liked the quiz. I didn't like it, but everyone really got around it. So i was like, okay, maybe i was being too judgmental. But then I obviously participated in the quiz because I'm very competitive. So I'd say just, you know, you could go a bit softer, maybe. if you're going to go If you're going to have a thing, maybe just warm warm into it.
00:12:10
Speaker
so so I wouldn't say that's a week one activity. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so should we get into, right so our ah to summarise our tips so far, it's like,
00:12:21
Speaker
me Get the list of people that you should meet from your manager. Meet all those people, but also ask them who else you should meet, why, and start a little stakeholder map document and make little notes for yourself so you don't forget. that's i think that's really important in these first meetings. At least do summary notes after the meeting so that you don't forget.
00:12:44
Speaker
what was said with each person otherwise there's no real point like if you're not really mapping it out there's no real point in spending time meeting them if you see what i mean it's not it's not all just like coffee and hey like you should these are useful things so you should you should make notes and then you also want to make sure that your line manager you have a clear goal and that you set up all your meetings with your line manager and your team. So I think very we've stayed very practical. i've got Very, very practical. I've got like, and i don't want to say it's impractical, but a challenge to you on this, Annie. So you're setting up your stakeholder meetings, you're getting a lay of the land,
00:13:23
Speaker
What advice would you have about building kind of trust with these new people? what What do you do? What's your vibe going into interesting.
00:13:34
Speaker
Well, so what everyone what everyone does to classically build trust is they say, and how can I help you your role? And whenever anyone asks me that, I just think, honestly, fuck off.
00:13:46
Speaker
You've just been taught to say that to everyone you like. That doesn't build trust for me at all. Like, honestly, zero trust there. You're just being polite and that's a corporate trick. So I think you can tell from that that I don't go into organisations with a high level of trust. I go into organisations with a very, very low level of trust. No, I think honestly, my answer to that is, I think you just have to show a lot of humility, respect, listen to them. i think the most likely thing to build a true trust between two people is a connection. So try and have a good conversation,
00:14:27
Speaker
try and show humility, share, share any wisdom or thoughts if you have them, but don't try and be overly valuable too quickly because that's usually like you're not that valuable when you don't really know what's going on. But I think the way to build trust as the new person is to just listen really well, try and...
00:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, act with humility and then try and like actually form a connection. Remember that person, try and remember their name. Yeah, I always find the like, and how does my role help you? It's like, yeah, sometimes that that question will actually come up, but you don't need to ask like Joe in finance.
00:15:06
Speaker
like how your role helps her it's like she just you're just another person that she has to pay so I think mine would be more about like just trying to have humble nice conversations with people but what do you think so being authentic authentic being a bit weird yeah and just like not to if someone is too like what the top three things I could do to help you this week to settle in I'm really like ah And I literally, it was just too much, mate. Like you shouldn't have that time. And if you have that time, I'm afraid that you're, you've mentally been put into my low performer list. but you just So like...
00:15:46
Speaker
There is a bit of a danger though when you start a new role, right? That you've you've misjudged who you're aligned with. yeah like You could accidentally, unintentionally just find yourself with someone who is a low performer performer with a bad rep in the business. And like, is that okay?
00:16:05
Speaker
Or? Depends what you want them for. Like it could be okay to be your friend. Like, obviously they might lose their job so you just don't know but like you like who you like I think but I think where you professionally invest your time you have to be very careful of like you have to be selective so if let's let's say in your first 30 days you might meet 40 people it's quite a lot 20 like you know you'll see them in the odd meeting you should know
00:16:36
Speaker
who they are, but you'll probably never, never have any interaction with them. Yeah. cursorite Cursory, cursory, like polite, you know, polite to meet them, say hi. Then there's probably like of the other 20, I would say five to seven that are probably going to be critical to your success, your influence, your progress in some way of one of which will be your line manager. And then, and those will probably be quite obvious. I would have thought it might be your team.
00:17:06
Speaker
And then there's those other 13. And from the 13, you've got to assess who has the most potential. And that's, to be honest, that's the part of onboarding that I like the most where I'm like, Hmm, you do your job now, but you'll be with me soon. You know, when I find when i find the people that I'm like, you are an absolute vote you're really good at it.
00:17:31
Speaker
Oh my God. Yeah, for sure. I'm like, oh, okay. Oh, you were the you were the top performer in that area last year. Well, how about we go for lunch?
00:17:41
Speaker
yeah yeah I love it. Yeah, yeah, of course. I'm always I'm building my team, whether or not they know. But yeah, there's a lot of I think there are in the in the in the first 30 days, there are a lot of meet and greets where like they will be put it will be out of like politeness, but they won't be like that's useful. And you just got to put up with those. But yeah, you've got to you've got to put your energy be careful where you put your energy.
00:18:08
Speaker
I think. Talk to me about your approach. I've forgotten how many is now. Was it five to seven people who are like the most influential? Let's let's say like CEO of the organization.
00:18:20
Speaker
or C-suites and line management chain? What's your kind of approach to those ones? Because you like there's there's a different conversation, right? like Those conversations aren't just like, and where do you get your coffee from? They can be, but yeah like what how are you kind of ingratiating yourself in a not disgusting way to the seniors? I'm probably being a bit more like,
00:18:46
Speaker
how do you understand like the problem, like the problem space we're in how my role sits within it? It's a little
Aligning with Organizational Goals
00:18:54
Speaker
bit more, for lack of a better word, it's a bit more like consultancy as an approach. It's almost like, okay, like I think my job is this. Is that what you thought? And they'll usually say like, yeah, I think you were also doing this. And then you'll say like, okay, that's interesting. And then it's like, okay, and how does this relate to you in this way? Is that correct? And sometimes, you know, they'll say, No. And then I'll probably move into like, what are the things you're most kind of worried about in terms of either this role or like this area of the business? And like, where do you, but it's like, I'll either ask worried all or ah I'll ask excited, depending on who I'm, you know, who I'm talking to. If I'm talking to like the CEO or the chief growth person, I'll be like,
00:19:36
Speaker
it'll be all very positive. And then if I'm talking to like the commercial and finance people, it will be a bit more like negative. Like what's the worries? What are you, what are your concerns? Like what have you seen here before that you think has been done well and what's, what's been done less well? Yeah. I think in terms of C-level, I actually don't believe that maybe that's a bit of a sweeping statement, but for me, it has never been true that there have been more than two significantly influential C-suite people on my job. So I think you should figure out like who are the two that are going to make or break your success. And maybe it's only one, but I think it's probably usually more than one when you're in a senior position.
00:20:15
Speaker
level and one of them will probably be your manager but it may well be that there's another person especially if I think you're in operational and generalist roles right like you might be in the commercial team but the COO is watching what you're doing right or the other way around so it's like figure out who those who those people are and maybe spend more time with them And also find out from other people that you meet what they're like to work with. Because if you if you know who your two kind of C-suite people of influence are, you have to figure out them super fast. And an easy way to figure them out is to ask other people,
00:20:52
Speaker
Let's move on. We're on week, I don't know, two or whatever, where we're sort of in the thick of our stakeholder meetings. Like what's going on here in terms of your balance of desperate to start doing and trying to hold off? Like what sorts of things are you up to? Hmm.
00:21:10
Speaker
Yeah. I think this is, so week I would say where I have gone wrong is in weeks one to two, you probably shouldn't, you shouldn't do much. Like you don't really know what you're doing. So it's mostly meetings, going to meetings that you'll be a part of understanding how those meetings run. Weeks two to four, I'm probably getting pretty itchy feet to run my own meetings.
00:21:30
Speaker
You know i mean? It's like, if this is my meeting, I now want that meeting. That would be mine. But that, in all honesty, that could be a bit early. So I think in the largest organisation I worked in, two weeks would probably have been too early to like chair a formal governance committee. I probably would would have been like trying to do that with not much success. But I think in weeks two to four, you should be really thinking critically about what is going on.
00:22:00
Speaker
You know, are these meetings effective? Yeah. Are the outputs being done that we said we'd do last week? Who's doing their outputs? Who's not doing their outputs? Where are we blocked? Where is it easy to deliver things? Where is it less easy? And I think like you can be in your first two weeks, you are literally just receiving so much information that I don't think you can think like truly that critically because it's just like, oh, that's how that works.
00:22:24
Speaker
Oh, I need to look into that. I didn't know how a blood testing company works. But then in weeks two to four, I think you can start thinking a bit more critically about what's going on without yet being indoctrinated into your team, knowing the people. So you can be objective, but critical. So that's probably what I'd be trying to do in meetings. So actually, I would say don't run them, even if you know it's going to be your meeting in future. Like don't rush into being the chair enjoy the weeks where you don't have to run them yet and try and figure out how those things are working what you would change why and what you're on the lookout for in terms of yeah how to how to get things running better what do you think about that week weeks two to four what would you be doing i would never be chairing a meeting in weeks two
00:23:10
Speaker
I mean, I think this is the fundamental difference in our experience, right? Like I have big org experience and you have small. And I think the expectations on those 30 days are really different. Where I'm working, like it's probably like I'm still battling to get logged into something or get access to something. So like very different, different paces of work. I think in in this time, you're obviously in your...
00:23:33
Speaker
your your kind of four or so a day stakeholder meetings and that's for me quite socially fatiguing what I am trying to get a feel for at this point is just trying to get a sense of my team I think it's especially when you get more senior and you're starting and a role and you're inheriting a team regardless of whether you like them or you think they could be better like you didn't choose who's in there right you've inherited what's there and you're gonna have to make it work So I think it's about understanding their version of what's going on. And as you get more senior, it you have the complexity of like multiple management layers and getting other people's perspectives on your team's work. And you will always instinctively come to defend your team and and kind of be, that's what I'm hired to I'm their leader. I'm looking after them. But there is
00:24:27
Speaker
an amount of listening that you need to do about what other people think about your team. And you you have to start trying to triangulate the difference between how your team thinks it's doing versus how other people think other people think that they're doing and what your manager thinks and start kind of triangulating all of that that soft data into what's actually going on. Because it is too early to be able to know exactly what's going on. you might just be starting to think about what are the right questions to ask to to sort of get a little deeper of that intel.
Socializing and Professional Boundaries
00:25:00
Speaker
But I think it's just about trying to get a feel for things. And, you know, some of that can be sort of like culturally, like, don't know, someone's not turning their camera on. That's actually my bugbear. I hate it so much. But there are there are other organisations and places where that's perfectly normal and accepted. And, you know, there might be a very good reason why someone doesn't do that. But for
00:25:19
Speaker
For me, as a general rule, that's a sign of disengagement. And that's the kind of problem. Yeah. So you're getting all of these signals of data and you're just trying to soak them up and work out like what's going on who's really into it, like who are the big hitters, who's who's disengaged and in the backseat and starting to get a sense of what's going to be required to make this move better faster bigger those sorts of things without sounding like an absolute bellend because also if they're really tired and you're like i want us to be bigger ah better faster and bigger they'll be like i'm so tired get away i tend to kind of lead with energy and pace and that can be really annoying especially the team is really tired so yeah it's such a good point it's such a good point you have got a really
00:26:04
Speaker
If you are leading a team in particular, right, you've you've got to understand, as you say, their perspectives in depth, what's happened to them, but also the perception of the team that you're leading and the perception of, yeah, the different people in it. Yeah, it's a great point. It actually makes me think about how much time...
00:26:19
Speaker
I did, but it wasn't deliberate, but I did spend doing that when I was in a large organization. Like we were, because I was coming in to lead team that was fairly new, but that also people didn't understand, like people didn't understand what product was. And so like, I'd have to ask everyone, like, what do you think product is? And then they just honestly give me like the most bizarre range of things. And I would be like, well, it's...
00:26:42
Speaker
Absolutely, definitely not that. but um But yeah, a big part of that was the perception of that ti of the team that I was running. and And it probably took me three months to properly actually triangulate what was what was grounded in fact and what was just...
00:26:58
Speaker
perception and opinion so yeah I think that's a great point okay so I think last last section we should just cover is like what are your top tips back for just how to behave in the first month like how to be so well like the obviously correct answer the answer to this it's like be yourself But if you're if you're a bit of a grumpy bitch, don't be yourself. so I would say charming, disarming.
00:27:27
Speaker
ah e can't think of another word that rhymes with that. But I think you just want to be nice. You want wanna to be relatable, especially if you're senior. You want to be sort of asking asking good questions. You want to be curious but not in a kind of judgmental way. Not like, why do you do it like that? Or, you know, but if you're going to, if you if you're thinking that in your head, just say it in a sassy, jokey way. You sort of, you don't know enough about how and why decisions have been made previously to be able to accurately assess this early on and tell someone something's a stupid idea and know whether they were involved in the stupid idea. so I'd say just tread very carefully. But also if there is something that's like really crackers, you can like, just ask a question. Like I'd be really interested to understand, like you guys do it like this. It's a bit different when I've seen it before. Like what's the rationale? And like often there's none or like, it's just, ah we've always done it that way or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. We've always done it that way. And then, and then you're like, ka-ching, that's the first to go. so you know, you can start like gathering your your your secret list of things you want to change. But, you know, you can also, I think it's important to come with fresh energy when you start. Have a holiday day before. like...
00:28:44
Speaker
enthusiastic but not in in an annoying way I think my work persona have you watched Parks and Rec have I just joking live for Leslie I live for Leslie come on I'd say I can like Leslie Knope is sort of like my spirit animal for work yeah I can work totally see that with you and I can totally see that sometimes Leslie's a bit much.
00:29:10
Speaker
And so ah you know, i think it's, if you know that you can be a bit much, it's just about turning the volume down, like 10%, being like, just, just don't be that extra, but be well-dressed, be great. I try and be a bit more Ron, you know? no Yeah. I'd say you're actually a bit more Ron in general. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. try and just be a little bit more Ron. Not in your first 30 days though. Yeah, I definitely made some mistakes there. I think that in my current role, I actually, I remember, i remember saying to like to multiple people, yeah, no, I've made enough friends. And in this job, I'm not here to make friends. yeah
00:29:52
Speaker
equal And I don't know like where that came from, but I was really like, no, no, you don't get it. I'm not making friends. I've got enough friends. I'm actually, my friends,
00:30:04
Speaker
I love them all, but I'm full to the brim. Friends, that's not what this is about for me. You can always say that, but you should never say that, Annie. Yeah, no, so I was saying that willy-nilly at the start of this job. It makes you sound so hardcore. That's really Ron, actually. Yeah, no. And I think that,
00:30:23
Speaker
I think I also can be charming and disarming, but I just remember being quite sort of obstinate in this particular role that I was just like, not, I was like, I'm not going to like any of you. We're not going to go for drinks. I'm not going to share my thoughts or feelings. I'm not here for that. So yeah, God knows, God knows. But as I say, you can start again in the middle of a role. Perhaps now is the time for me to do that. Have you been invited to to drinks yet? I didn't get invited to very many drinks slash don't. And the one that I turned up to that ah honestly, when I got there, people just stopped talking. It was just like, why is she here? And so um I'm lucky that I have actually got like a couple of, I would say, reliable work friends now that sort of every now and again kind of wheel me out like an attraction just to see if it will stop everyone talking. but yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think maybe going a little bit softer than that
00:31:21
Speaker
Keep those thoughts in your
Top Tips for Success in a New Job
00:31:22
Speaker
head. That would be my tips for the listeners. keep this I mean, I've also definitely had those thoughts before and then just still made more friends because you you always make friends. You always end up making friends, whether whether you go in with the sort of, I don't have space for anymore and then and then space is just made. But I would say going to a drinks is a great way to get gossip, just get everyone a bit sourced and like, so what's going on with this thing?
00:31:48
Speaker
Okay. Gossip is, I feel like actually we we have thought about this, but we should do it we should do an episode on gossip. Because I actually now avoid it as much as I can. I avoid it like the plague. I don't want to know.
00:32:04
Speaker
i don't want to know who's sleeping with each other. do you know what i mean? no. I've got a really boring version of gossip, which is more just like corporate gossip. Yeah. I don't work in places where like people sleep with each other that I know of.
00:32:19
Speaker
I don't know. Oh, interesting. Well. We can do an episode on gossip though because I bloody love that. Yeah, let's do that. I'm a bit scared of gossip now. I've been burned too many times. but it You've just been gossiped about. Yeah. No, I actually don't. I don't think so little angel over here just going around telling people that she doesn't want to make friends with them but to your point though it's also like different when you get more senior it brings a different vibe to drinks like I do think my team should socialize without me at some points though like I would get massive FOMO but I also you know will host like something for them where I am there but you know they should be they should be able to express their feelings about me without me
00:33:02
Speaker
I agree. That's very important. That's very important. So it's okay if you don't get invited to the drinks. It just means you're so big and scary and important. Do you think you're scary in your first 30 days? You sound a bit scary.
00:33:14
Speaker
No, no, I'm not. I'm not scary. i'm I'm not scary in general. That's not actually my, I think, I think I might be sort of a bit strange, but I'm not, I'm not scary. not,
00:33:25
Speaker
I don't think that's my personal brand. I think people in this job have maybe found me a little intense. Okay. But not but not in a scary way, more in a like, why does she work so hard? Why is she still working? Why is she still looking so stressed? I think that's more of my my personal brand. high stress, high work, but mostly I would maybe a little bit of just general concern.
00:33:48
Speaker
would say that's probably my overall brand. You took us into a segue about top tips and I feel like we digressed enormously. Yeah, we some good ones. You gave some good ones. Just get people drunk in vino veritas. I don't know if that's, please don't tell my employer about that. But I do think socialising is very important. What are your top tips? Mine are just be very, very humble.
00:34:10
Speaker
That's actually how I think people come to like you. Obviously, as women, don't be apologetic. Don't be like underconfident. I think show a lot of humility. You said curiosity. i think those two things together, if we're focusing on your first 30 days, I think those two are the really critical things to kind of give off humility, curiosity,
00:34:31
Speaker
not pretending that you know why people do their jobs the way they do, what they've been through, like what's going on in the organisation, because you just don't. So yeah, those that would be my two things to focus on.
00:34:43
Speaker
And then of course, yeah, tell everyone you don't want to be their friend. LAUGHTER I think I completely agree with those except for maybe the last one I think I just think that thought in my head I think there's we haven't spent a lot of time touching on it but there's there's also a kind of phase of the first 30 days where you start kind of identifying the small wins and just kind of get on with them and then just like start identifying where those big wins are that you can bring fresh energy to and that's in your kind of You're slightly, you're lot' definitely not in your 30 days, but that's a longer term one. And then, you know, through all of these conversations, just start thinking about where are the uphill battles and are they going to be worth it? Because it's quite easy to just get sucked in at the start to someone else's priority. That's just a total ball ache or like you accidentally stumble upon the hornet's nest and then you're holding it and getting attacked.
00:35:34
Speaker
for holding it so yeah you know at work i've been working on an uphill battle for about two years but it's still going the hornet's nest is still buzzing just holding onto it covered in bites but it's okay it's something worth it it's not a battle that's worth it so that's just life that's what you get paid for that's what you get paid for indeed any more no i'm a big note taker i have to admit my first 30 days i am a big note taker i think um I also like to be on the receiving end of someone taking notes. I think clever people take notes. I think really stupid people don't take notes. So if you're ever onboarding with me, just know I expect you to take notes.
00:36:13
Speaker
It's like not possible in your first 30 days to remember everything that happens with all of that information. Are you a note taker in a notebook or a laptop? My preference would be a notebook.
00:36:24
Speaker
And certainly for onboarding, it's a notebook. But realistically nowadays, often it is a laptop. But I like, there's something about pen and paper in the first week, what you're kind of jotting down. I think there's just something in in what you actually write. So i'd be ah I'd be a strong advocate for the paper and pen for at least the first 30 days. I agree.
00:36:44
Speaker
What's your what's your like Achilles heel notebook? like What's your favourite? I like a black leather moleskin. you know I like a black leather moleskin too, but I like it with square rather than lined. Well, that's absurd. That's the that's absurd. that's I want to close this window now and never see you again.
00:37:06
Speaker
I've had enough. There's just so much opportunity for alignment in a squared notebook. I don't even actually i actually just don't even understand that. i don't know like there's no There's no rhyme or reason to that for me.
00:37:17
Speaker
Nothing. Nothing. I can't get there. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even need to convince you. It's so good. like I'm happy for you to just not soak up all of the demand for the square the square. They're actually not that easy to find. Yeah, because no one wants them. I do. I'll have all of them. Okay.
00:37:34
Speaker
I think that's it. Thanks for joining us today. As always, if something in today's episode has resonated with you, spread the magic, share it with a friend, post it on your socials, get a group chat, or leave a rating review on your favorite podcast platform. That is how the coven grows. Until next time.
00:37:52
Speaker
Bye.