How to Handle Your First Meeting With a New Boss

Meeting with a new boss for the first time can feel like a make-or-break encounter — especially if she’s the one who’s new to the company and presumably looking for things to change. You may be tempted to lead with your personal agenda. If you do, you’ll be part of a steady parade of petitioners, each bearing (as the leader sees it) a narrow set of demands.

Don’t arrive at that initial meeting with thick stacks of documents and a PowerPoint presentation. And don’t prepare an eager audition that recapitulates your LinkedIn recommendations. Instead, ask questions and listen to the answers. Find out who the new boss is, how she likes to work, what she doesn’t yet know that you can help her learn. Answer her questions candidly as well, and don’t be so tightly clenched that you fail to let the boss see who you are.

Tom Gilmore, a principal at the Center for Applied Research, offers the following advice for making crucial early encounters successful:

Establish a sense of connection, says Gilmore, by “finding links between what you’d like to see happen and things the new boss wants to accomplish.” There will be time for your agenda after you’ve built a solid relationship.

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