6 tactical things to do in week one on the job to set yourself up for success with your boss (and land future promotions and cash money)
You just got hired. Congrats. You’re employed, excited, and ready to rock and roll.
Here’s a quick hit list of things I recommend you do to show you’re a boss.
Create your own 30/60/90-day plan unprompted before day one. Yes… before. Then refine as necessary. Prior to showing up to your first day of work, I recommend you attempt to type up the bones of your own 30/60/90-day plan. “But Ryan, how can I type up a plan without knowing the goals and priorities of the company?” Simple: Ask your boss before you start about the goals and priorities. Nothing says “winner” like someone who shows up on day one whereas most people show up on day 10. Get ahead. The value you’ll add to the company for hitting the ground running will be the value that didn’t exist prior. It’s likely you’ll motivate those around you as well with your proactiveness and energy.
Ask every single person you’ll work closely with to a virtual lunch (covid ugh) or an in-person life with masks and ask them “Where did you grow up?” Focus on transition points: Step away from “work” and get to know the person. Start with: "Where did you grow up?" Use that as your starting point for each conversation. What comes after growing up? High school! Then what? (Maybe / maybe not) College. Then what? Their first job? Then what? Their second job? Marriage? Babies? More jobs? Talk about these things. IN ORDER. Focus on their TRANSITION POINTS. Why did they go from one job to the next? What did they like vs. not like? How do they work? What motivates them? Get personal (without overstepping).
Suggest “five-minute drills” end-of-day recaps with your manager for the first two weeks to get your questions answered efficiently. You're going to have a ton of questions as a new hire. Write them all down, and then focus on a specific time during the day when you have "five-minute drills." Do it at 4 PM in the afternoon. Close to the end of the day. When you have plenty of questions, and when people have more free time to answer them.
Be INSANELY positive and work your ass off. Not annoyingly positive (you know who I'm talking about). Others take notice of positive people. CEOs have to do some work that sucks. VPs have to do some work that sucks. Managers have to do some work that sucks. Associates have to do some work that sucks. And interns have to do some work that sucks. Embrace it. Do you think I enjoy putting bills into Quickbooks? Private answer: "Oh helllll no." Public answer: "I love entering bills into Quickbooks. It allows me to understand what our expense structure looks like, understand our vendor relationships, and a whole bunch of other positives." Flip negatives into positives, and vocalize them. You want everyone to think you are the most positive person in the office. Not average.
Introduce your boss to someone she/he wants to know. Ask your boss who he/she would like to meet in town if they could meet anyone in order to learn from. Then find a way to get to that person on your own. Meet them. And then introduce them! This shows your boss that you care about him/her and want to make sure that THEY MEET PEOPLE THEY WANT TO MEET TOO (not just you).
Buy your boss a book that she/he would get value out of OR recommend a podcast, etc. If your boss looks unhealthy and you realize it's because he/she is slammed at the office and not eating proper dinners, buy him/her a book about "How to cook dinners in under 10 minutes." If your boss is complaining about people in the office, buy him/her "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. The best employees and friends I've ever had are ones who were not afraid about offering me advice and feedback on my own life and business style. They were honest with me. They learned how to give constructive criticism and then offer problems to solutions. Many times, I've found a book can be the perfect solution. It helps someone recognize they have a problem, and then gives them something to do about it.
