First impression is the last impression. 

Also true in your career, but this first impression as new data leaders spread across weeks. Your initial days give your first impression to your team and set the tone of your leadership. 

Here’s what new data leaders and team leaders should do first. This article gives you your next steps for the early days of your leadership that allow you to earn trust, connect with your team and set the stage for high performance and long-term impact. 

What new data leaders should do first

1. Understanding the organisation 

If you’re joining a new company, your first and most important task will be to recognise their culture, values, norms, decision-making process and political dynamics. Even if you’re internally promoted, there might be new things for you to learn. 

Be a vigilant observer in the starting few weeks. Note how systems work, how teams collaborate, respond and work along, and what’s appreciated. Observe who makes decisions and on what grounds. See what their culture actually looks like and what values they actually practice. 

It takes around a month to fully understand a new company. But this information is crucial for you as it helps you navigate your way around the organisation, build trust and credibility and understand how you need to proceed to win in your new role. 

2. Get to know each other (you and your team) 

No matter if you’re leading a new team or your own peers, you must introduce yourself as a leader. Go over your experience, milestones, achievements and pave your way towards your goals and plans for the team. 

The next thing is to put the ball in your team’s court. Ask for a quick introduction, their strengths, skills, short-term and long-term career goals. As a leader, you need to know your team well to know how to leverage their strengths and help them grow in the right direction.

3. Communicate your method, values and expectations

A leader should communicate their ideology in the first interaction with the team. Clearly lay out your values, vision, leading style, method, how you prefer to work and what you expect from the team. 

Following are a few things that your team should know. 

• Your direction and priorities for the team
• How you assess performance
• Your expectations around communication and transparency
• What you consider high-quality work
• Your standards for collaboration and decision-making
• Your plans for team development and growth

Also read: The anatomy of a good leadership vision in tech 

4. Recommunicate the goals 

Among your first moves as a leader is to make sure everyone knows what the team is aiming for and why it matters. Define or reiterate the team’s mission, vision and goals.

Share the big-picture vision alongside the short-term targets that drive it. Show each person how their work directly impacts the team’s success. 

Once people understand how their work connects to the bigger mission, they naturally feel motivated and more engaged. 

5. Be mindful and lead by example 

Your tone, behaviour, words, actions and the way you respond and interact with your team will make or break your leadership journey. 

Your actions and words define the new norms, culture and values of your team. It sets the tone for how things will be under your leadership. So if you set the stage wrong in the first place, it will be difficult to change it later. 

You cannot breach rules and deadlines and expect your team to comply. The actionable point here is to lead by example. If you preach collaboration, you need to show it through your actions. If you call for efficiency, you need to show it through your work. 

6. Be approachable 

Change is often difficult. Your team will take their sweet time to learn about you. They might hesitate to discuss certain challenges or goals with you. So affirm them that your doors are always open for the team and be actually available for them. 

7. Start delegating

New leads struggle with a ton of work they assume is all theirs. You cannot help your team if you’re buried in everyday hands-on tasks. Tasks that someone else in the team can perform, but you do them at the expense of work that only you can handle. 

The way out is to delegate. I’ve two detailed guides on delegating for new managers and leaders. The first one shows you how to delegate effectively to make it a smooth and stress-free process, while the other gives a practical framework and examples on what to delegate and what not to. 

8. Fix to build trust

The first task of a new lead is to establish trust with their team. Take an obvious fix that bugs your team and initiate its resolution. This fix does a lot: 

• It builds trust 
• Shows that you listen and care for the team 
• Builds momentum 
• And gives you the right positioning you needed 

To find this gap, simply ask your team what bothers them or an issue in the system or processes that slows down work. It can be something as small as the approval process, data quality or repetitive manual reporting tasks that slow the team.

9. Adjust the standards, systems and workflows 

Take your first few weeks to understand the processes and systems of the team and the organisation. If you want to change or adjust anything for better efficiency and flow, doing that should be your first few tasks as a new leader.

10. Understand what’s expected of you 

What new data leaders and tech leads should do first usually revolves around their team. However, as you step into this new role, you must be clear on what’s expected from you by your seniors. 

While you give all your time to your team, give a fraction of it to the requirements and expectations of your role. It’ll help you prioritise and lead the right way that ensures both you and your team are growing and achieving. 

Also read: Time management for new managers and leaders in tech and data

Trust me, you’ve got this 

You’ve already shown you can rise to the challenge. You have what it takes to win in this new realm. Challenges are a part of the journey, and how you respond to them shows the leader you are. 

Sometimes all we need is a little help and guidance to direct us on the right track. Foundations of Leadership for Nerds is made to guide the new leaders and managers in the tech and data industry. 

Drawn from my experience in data and leadership to becoming a CTO, the e-book contains mindset shifts with practical and actionable frameworks to help you make a real difference in your leadership journey.