I Broke the Keurig
On week 2 of my new job, I walked into the administrative suite and announced to a colleague that I’d broken the Keurig machine. Quite an accomplishment in my first month of work I thought. She asked, “Did you turn the power button on?” I had just finished a thorough 5-minute inspection of the Keurig. I said, “Uh, I don’t think this one has a power button,” and continued on my way. The next morning, determined not to go without coffee, I again inspected the Keuring — no power button to be found. I let the same colleague know that I had surely broken the Keurig. She politely smiled and said, “Would you like me to take a look with you?” I said, “Sure!” She walked with me to the break room, approached the Keurig, placed her hand immediately on the power button, switched it on, and voila! The “broken” Keurig was resurrected.
If you are persevering through the early days of a new leader, take it for granted that there are a lot of things they’re going to fail to see and draw wrong conclusions about. Set them up for success by not only tolerating their learning curve, but by accelerating it where possible. Just-in-time teaching is kind to the new leader and it lessens the time to local competency — which is good for everyone. No one wants a boss going through caffeine withdrawal.
this story was first published at https://www.linkedin.com/posts/devonmberry_on-week-2-of-my-new-job-i-walked-into-the-activity-6767116139756687360-Ohhe
