Welcome Walk

First day on the job

Colby, Apprentice Plumber for a full-service mechanical and plumbing contractor in Wilsonville, OR, told Session 8 of Turbo Leadership Systems' Leadership Development Lab (LDL):

"On Thursday, May 18 2019, I heard we had a new employee joining our company. For his first day on the job he was being sent out to our William Walker Elementary job. Even though it had been three years since I was hired, along with a couple of other new employees, I remembered how nervous I was on my first day. I had many years of experience working as a residential plumber but this was my first time being sent out to commercial job site. I remembered how rough it was trying to find my way around. When I saw a car I didn't recognize I could tell it was probably our new guy. I knocked on his window and introduced myself. I could tell he was super nervous and glad to meet someone friendly on the job.

"I gave him a quick tour of the job site. As we walked the site I was able to naturally use many of the questions from the Art of Conversation we had learned at session one of the LDL. I took him over to our job trailer and introduced him to the foreman.

I could tell he was relieved not to have to blindly find his own way around the site. I feel sure this was a great way to make a good first impression on behalf of myself and our company.

"The lesson I learned from this experience is the importance of remembering to take a step back and to see things from other people's point of view.

"The action I call you to take is let a new employee soak everything in, get comfortable with their new environment, ask questions to express your genuine interest to establish rapport. Let new people know you want to be a helpful resource.

"The benefit you will gain is happy, productive employees who will be immediately invested in your company".

Colby used so many of Turbo's 15 Leadership Principles: #2 - Become Genuinely Interested: when he took the initiative to introduce himself to the nervous new hire. #5 - See things from the other person's point of view - remembering how it can feel the first day you are working on a huge commercial job site. #6 - Be A Good Listener; as he asked the Art of Conversation questions. He listened as the new fellow had the chance to tell his story.

Where will you have the opportunity today to show genuine intentions, ask questions, listen and see things from the other person's point of view?