Running With the Ball

I watch football….from time to time. Let’s just say I understand the basics. The person with the ball scores the points. That’s the most basic. So consider this same concept when you’ve been hired for an opportunity. On that big professional football field (the company that just hired you), you’re given the ball (offer letter). By signing the offer letter you’ve accepted responsibility for the ball you have to carry.

The offer letter is a companies trust in you to handle that ball. That doesn’t mean they’ve seen what you can do with it. Someone once told me that no one has the right to an opportunity and if they do get the opportunity they still have to earn it. I agree with the second part. I think everyone has the right to an opportunity if they want it and its up to that employer whether they want to provide that opportunity or not.

The second part is important though. You have the ball now and the employer will spend a little time showing you how to hold it the way they want you to (onboarding and training). After that time practicing its time to do what you were hired to do and that is to help your team down the field towards that goal. Now unlike football, a company has many players all running towards the same goal. For most companies, that’s success and growth.

Right now, its your first day and your first week. Most of your first days will be getting your cleats, your helmet and your uniform (laptops, logins, introductions). You’ll have huddles (meetings) and work closely with the team captain (leader, mentor) to learn the ropes of the opportunity you were fortunate to be hired for. During this time it’s okay to ask as many questions as you need to and if you have a good leader, they’ll let you interrupt them with lots of questions.

Depending on the size of your company, employees are wanting to know who “the new person” is. You’ve been employed before and if you were at your last company for a while, you were always excited to meet a new addition and especially someone you’d be working closely with. At one of my past jobs, I started with someone whom I grew to respect over the years. Imagine having TWO new people on your team. Double the excitement. I was always personally happy to see a new face because I knew my leadership would ask me to show them the ropes. When I became a leader I got to write the onboarding framework for two new hires. It was so great to be able to show them everything I had learned. As a new employee, I’ve experienced both sides of how the reception of a new person can go. There were a few that pinged me left and right welcoming me and there were a few that had cold stares for me as soon as I got in the door. I can’t say what your experience will be but if you’re getting messaged by everyone introducing themselves and telling you early on that you can reach out if you need them, you’re part of a great company.

The most important thing to remember in any opportunity you have is to be flexible and adaptable. If there is a new thing that takes you out of your comfort zone, that is a good thing. I’ve seen companies that become sedentary in something that worked for a while and no longer works anymore. What can be worse is the insistence of them wanting to stay that way instead of embracing change. This is where companies begin to lose. What worked then no longer works now. I fell into this “comfy” pattern once myself and only when I had left that opportunity did I realize how comfortable I’d become. So if something starts to feel repetitive, feel free to challenge your superiors respectfully when something could work better and especially for the people who benefit from all of your hard work. Your customers.

When you’re at work, you’re “at work”. That means that anything personal beyond an emergency can wait until a break or when work is over. If you’re in the right role, you’ll have plenty to do. Show them you can run with that ball, and you’ll be the best employee they ever had.