Meeting a new team as a leader is your first chance to let people know what it is going to be like to work with you.
When I became the General Manager of a Marriott Hotel, I used the first 30 days to find out what questions people have.
Every day, I walked the hotel and met with every employee. First, at 6 am, I would walk every area of the hotel. Then again at 11 am. Finally, before I left at 5 pm I would walk the hotel one more time. Every day, I saw every employee. And I asked questions about what they needed. When they told me they needed something, I took care of it.
When I became EVP of Walt Disney World, I applied what I learned at Marriott, but with 44,000 cast members and an operation the sie of San Francisco, I could not meet every cast member and see the entire operation every day. But, I did meet some people every day. And I saw some portion of the operation every day.
And I made myself available to answer questions and meet with people.
Don't get overwhelmed by the idea of meeting with everyone. Focus on one person at a time.
Meet with an employee. Find out about their career and their family life. Get to know the person before you get to know their work.
Ask people, "what can I do for you to make your job easier?"
Your new team is not looking for giant changes or big leaps of progress. They want a little bit of help. They want you to remove barriers so they can do their job. Now, you have to find out what those barriers are so you can remove them.
