"As a new leader, I remember that it can be an overwhelming and challenging time for employees. In my first week, I typically have a team meeting to introduce myself and meet everyone; then, I set up initial one-on-ones and reoccurring meetings. In the first few meetings, I dive in and seek to understand their past work experience, what they feel is going well, what they feel are obstacles or barriers, their career goals, projects they have worked on, etc. I typically spend the first few weeks assessing their personality, collaboration, and technical skills before I read their past performance reviews; that way, I don't have any biased or preconceived ideas before I get to know them. I also seek feedback from the team in these one-on-one meetings. For example, I might ask, "who on the team do you go to when you need help?" so I can further identify who the team views as mentors or leaders."

"As a new leader, I first get to know employees personally to build that relationship and trust. Over my first few months, I spend time with them one-on-one, getting to know what they enjoy about working at the company, what projects they are passionate about, and what they view as some of their greatest accomplishments. I like to explore how they assess themselves, and if possible, I speak to their previous manager to get feedback on their areas of strength and weakness, keeping in mind that is subjective information."