Morning friend ☕️

Anand introduces the Sharks to Thandi. But there’s just silence. Nobody asks any questions.

Perhaps you have left a meeting like that and spent longer thinking about the team’s response than you spent in the room. Someone looked down. Someone nodded. You got through what you needed to say, but you are still wondering how it landed.

Were they expecting someone else? Did you say too little? Too much?

In Episode 1 of The Unexpected Leader, we explored the offer: what responsibility is Thandi really being asked to accept? Now, she has to face the people she will be responsible for leading.

Grab your coffee.
Let’s chat!

Anand introduces Thandi as acting manager of the Sharks dev team. They have had three managers in three years. She is arriving in a story that already has some history.

Thandi wants to say something warm. Make the room easier. Give them a reason to feel confident about her before they leave.

She lets the silence stand.

“Any questions?”, Anand asks. There are none.

The introduction ends without the reassurance she wants. She has the responsibility now. She still has to find out what these people need from her.

I recognise that doubt in Thandi’s beginning.

Before I took on my MBA at Henley, I had corporate experience and other management courses behind me, including Henley’s MAP programme. But I still wondered whether I could handle something as tough as an MBA.

In my reflection on that experience, I put it quite plainly: “Can I do this?”

Thandi also has to work out what other people’s responses mean. Nobody asked a question. It leaves room for a much bigger thought: They think appointing me was a mistake.

The silence is a signal for Thandi. But it does not tell her whose concern she might be facing, what it is about, or what would address it.

For a new manager in that situation, exploring the signal could look like this:

Observation — Nobody asked a question after my introduction.
Interpretation — I am worried they think my appointment was a mistake.
Next check — In a one-to-one, ask: “What would be helpful for me to understand about this change?”

The answer may be uncomfortable. People may need time to work out what the change means for their work, or they may have a specific objection. These are possibilities to investigate, rather than conclusions about Thandi’s team. Or yours.

You do not have to talk yourself into a cheerful reading of the meeting. You need a clearer sense of what deserves attention.

Choose a recent response you are still puzzling over. Note what happened and what you are afraid it means. Write down one other plausible explanation, then identify one person who could help you check, and when you will speak to them. A conversation before the next team meeting may be a place to begin.

If someone has already named a concern, such as a delivery risk, keep that in the note too. It needs attention while you work out how the conversation landed.

A quiet response can leave you questioning yourself. Start by separating what happened from what you’re afraid it means. Consider another explanation, then have a conversation to find out more.

Thandi’s introduction is over. Now she needs to hear how the change looks from the team’s side, so she can address any questions or concerns they raise.

Until next time, friend ☕️

Vaugan