Starting a New Role? Assess Organizational Culture

Taking a leadership role in a new organization can be exciting. It may even strike you as an opportunity to start fresh, and to sharpen your skills in service to a new team and a new vision. But going to a different organization can also bring some trepidation; indeed, it’s very normal to head into a new position with some unanswered questions. Some of those questions may pertain to organizational culture.

Here’s the thing about organizational culture: As you consider a new role, you can and should ask questions to discover what the culture is like and to verify that it’s a good fit for you. And, likewise, the manager or recruiter you’re working with should ask you questions, trying to assess the cultural alignment from their end.

But until you’re actually in the building doing the job, you just can’t be sure what an organizational culture is really like. And in some cases, you might discover that the organizational culture is not what the company advertised to you during the hiring process.

So what I recommend is simply this: Be attentive to culture issues as you begin your new role. Have your eyes and ears open and find out for yourself what kind of organizational culture you’ve walked into. Gain some clarity regarding both its strengths and the areas where it could stand some improvement.