Timeline of Sucess as a First Time People’s Leader | Hacking HR Experts Council

The milestones for first-time people’s leaders are different from one leader to another. As leaders, you may be struggling with what to prioritize in your list of goals and objectives. It can be really overwhelming when there is a lot of pressure and expectations. In the last article, we focused on the best advice for first-time leaders. In this article, we will shed light on what success looks like. 

With that, we asked some of the members of Hacking HR’s Expert Council to give their thoughts on what does success looks like in the first three, six, and twelve months of first-time people’s leaders. 

First things first: what does success look like in the first three, six, twelve months for a new people’s leader?

THREE MONTH PERIOD

The first three months are crucial because this is when you need to plan your goals and establish your working environment with your team. This is a crucial time to learn about yourself and your team. As you progress through you will be able to understand where you currently are and the things that need to be done and prioritized. 

For a first-time people leader, the first three months will be learning about themselves, the team members, the department, business, and key stakeholders. In the first three months, they should start to see how trust starts to build within the team. They should be able to help articulate the team's vision and key long-term and short-term priorities. Individual team members should be able to understand clearly what is expected of them, and how they are progressing towards that. There may be a couple of easy wins that the team is able to make together. The other departments should also start to understand the overall scope and impact that this team will have as part of the greater organization. - Mindy (Melinda) Honcoop

Always, the success of a people leader is measured by the success of the people they are leading. First three months: you have quick wins, your team achieved those quick results, and feel motivated. - Emilia Montiglio

Build trust and relationships and get some quick wins. Be a sponge and soak in everything you can learn about the company, the people, the culture, the processes, the language, and the business. - Lotus Buckner

Connect with people and complete stay interviews with the team. Use these sessions to connect with teams. Learn, know, and understand the business you are in. Help leaders and teams with their goals. Learn the financials of the organization. Give the opportunity to other employees and leaders to share with you what they know. You will become a well-rounded leader by understanding the historical information only employees can provide you about the business. Get in touch with other leaders outside of the organization who can support you, and mentor you. Coach and allow others to coach you. - Aura Huot

First is learning and making sure that the foundational things in your team are right - you don't get the foundational things right, you have no trust to begin to expand. Ask a lot of questions, LISTEN and learn… it will then become obvious where you can insert your talent to have a major and minor impact in various areas within your function and cross-functionally at the leadership level. This will evolve quickly if you proactively engage. - Jen Compagni

For the first three months, it is really about seeking to understand. Ask lots of questions, engage your team in discussions about what is working and not working. Talk with your peers and key stakeholders to get feedback and be able to evaluate how the team is doing. This is also the time to understand Ways of working, processes, and just in general the current state. - Angela Stenburgh

SIX MONTH PERIOD

In the next three months, you are starting to build on what you’ve established so far. This is where you’ll see progress and growth. You can compare where you started and reach your goals little by little together with your team. 

 Next six, your team made a change in the way of working, and other areas see your style and impact on how your team works. - Emilia Montiglio

By 6 months, you should be adding value at the leadership table, within the HR function, and across the organization that is felt and seen. - Jen Compagni

After the first 3 months, you want to work with your team to co-create your vision, mission, and strategy that will help you drive the overall organization's strategy. Partner with your team to develop plans to address any areas that you uncovered as opportunities during the current state. You should establish clear goals and accountabilities for your team, and help them understand how success will be measured and evaluated. Then you need to be working on those over the next 6 months. Check-in with the team regularly, provide coaching, and feedback along the way, as well as ask them for feedback. - Angela Sternburgh

TWELVE MONTH PERIOD

By now, you should have felt the development from where you started. You may be able to see tangible improvements and results. You can also look into what you can develop further. There may be new visions and a new set of goals to be achieved. 

In six months to twelve months, we will start to see the people leader build on the foundation they laid in the first three months and start to see greater scope and influence of the outcomes the team achieves. - Mindy (Melinda) Honcoop

12 months: People feel they growth, that does not mean they were promoted, but they found a new perspective and they do their job in a different a better way. - Emilia Montiglio

Stepping into a new leadership position requires effort, dedication, and agility. Overall, the first months will be challenging and crucial for you and your team. The following months will be dedicated to collaboration and helping each other to reach where you want to be. 

Connections are established with your team, your peers and the purpose and strategy of your organization. Success is not about directing others with your ideas, but ideas being generated by the people on your team. Success for leaders initiating the journey looks like building relationships with those you care about and respect. Success is the feeling everyone on the team feels comfortable expressing their voices and trust is felt, not discussed. - Wagner Denuzzo

From small wins to big wins... As first-time people’s leaders, you may have a different vision of what success looks like or feels like. What matters most is that you learn new lessons every step of the way. Every success, challenge, and mistake will ultimately help build your character as a leader. 

Take every moment as a learning opportunity. 

You may also check out the other articles from Hacking HR’s Expert Council:

• Best Advice for First Time People’s Leader