Winning friends and influencing people at work

Welcome to the You Unleash Podcast with Femi Akyemi. Podcast where we explore how to unleash your potential in the workplace, your hustle, and life in general. With practical real steps, sometimes I use stories from my past, and trust me, as usual, I've got some stories to share with you. But sometimes I'll just share stuff I've learned from books and I've read other places, which I think offers some great insights. And other times we'll just get people who know a lot more than we do to come into the studio and chop it all up with us. This is podcast number seven. I'm very happy to say I am now a firm believer that done is better than perfect, so we just have to keep going and we'll just get better as we go along. Remember that, just start, get going, and you can always get better. Please don't forget to like the podcast, share with your friends, and leave some feedback on the page. But in the meantime, let's just get right into it. Now I know sometimes I start this podcast with a sub story, a sad story about something happened to me, I got fired, etc. etc. Which may seem like my life has just been one big tragedy. But I'm here to tell you that it's not true. There have been lots of times where it's been good, and in fact, more good than bad actually. And this week I will be starting with a good story. Now, I was on a call with a customer a few days ago to discuss a project I'll be working on with her. Now, this lady I had worked with her on a previous project, so we were quite familiar with each other. We got to talking and then she said something which absolutely made my day. She said, Femi, now you're on this project, it gives me great confidence everything's going to be fine. Now I'm sure she just said that she didn't realize it, but she made my day. And the reason why she said this dates back to about six months ago earlier, where I worked with her on another project. And on this project, I was parachuted in because it wasn't going well at all. The customers were not happy, the people leading the project had not done a good job too. So I was brought in to replace this person who had not been doing a good job. And it seemed I did a good job because this lady is now complimenting me and telling me I was amazing and did wonderful things, and saying my presence on this new project gives her amazing confidence. Naturally, this is the You Onleash podcast, so I have to share this story with you. It'll be valuable for anyone who is starting a new job, taking over a new job, a project from someone else, if you're starting your business or taking over a business. Where someone could say, you know what? You inspire confidence in me too that this product is going to be fine. Because I'm sure we'll all love to hear that. I mean, wouldn't you? Now, the first thing I want to say is these are just tips to take. There is no guarantee, but the least you can always do is give your chance, give yourself a fighting chance of success. So, first things first, cardinal rule remember you cannot be someone else. No matter how good or bad they were, or how bad or good you are, you should never try to be someone else. You will fail. You literally cannot be someone else because you are you and they are they or they are them, and there's no point trying to be something else. Be who you are, be a unique, amazing, special self, and you will be fine. But what you can do is understand that there are critical success factors in every project, and what you need to do is understand what this means to make yourself a success. It is whatever you're going to do. So, without much further ado, let's start. The first thing you need to do when you take over from someone else is find out why they brought you in in the first place. Find out from who brought you in what is it you want from me, what didn't go well, what do you think didn't go well, and what do you need from me? And what looks like success. Now, this is about managing expectations. So I'm not going to talk too much about this. And if you haven't heard podcast number one, which is about managing expectations, I suggest you listen to that after this because it will give you a good idea. But what you need to do is go in there and ask, why am I here? What didn't go so well, and what do you need me to be on straight away? Once you've done that, you've got an idea of what someone wants from you. Number two, when you start your new business, contract, job, or work, or whatever it is you are taking over from someone else, you have to try and understand what worked well in the past and what hasn't. Some people come in and make the mistake of throwing the baby out of the bath water and just stopping everything and bringing their own ideas in. And some people come in sometimes, they don't change anything. You're gonna be smart, right? You're gonna go in and you're gonna find out what worked well in the past and what hasn't. What did the person who was here before me do that people liked and didn't? And what would people like to see happen now that I'm here? Look, talk to experts, talk to experienced people, ask around. There is always someone who knows more than you, and there is wisdom in the council of many. So I would suggest you do this. And listening above anything else shows you really care and understand, it shows the people that you're going to be working with that look, this person really cares and wants to make an effort. So do that and trust, you might not even do everything people tell you, but at least if you ask and you listen, you already make an impact as someone who is empathetic, someone who listens. Thirdly, let people know that you are here to help and are willing to work with them. Look, straight up admit that you don't know everything and are willing to help and learn and work. And if they need anything, they have any ideas, they should let you know because you're welcome. Now, coming back to the story, I remember joining, and everybody was so unhappy. One of the things people said was, Oh, no one ever tells us what's going on, no one communicates with us, no one tells us how. So people just do stuff and we don't know what's going on. That's why it's been such a disaster. What did I do? I went in there and I regularly, once a week, had a phone call with them and said, This is what I'm doing, this is how it's going well, this is what's not going well, I need you to do this, I need you to do that. And straight away they went, hmm, this guy came in, he understood that communication was a big problem, and he's now catching up with us regularly. And straight away they felt comfortable, they felt confident, and it turns out that's the one thing that they really wanted. They just wanted someone who listened to them and communicated to them regularly so they know what is going on. So you've got three things I've given you now. Find out from whoever brought you in what it is they want from you. Number two, find out what's gone well, what hasn't, what people want stopped, and what people want to start, and then let people know number three that you're willing to work with them, you're going to listen, and you're going to do everything you can. And critically, guys, critically, always let people know that you have an open door. Come to me, tell me if there's any concerns, tell me if anything's not going well, and I'm willing to do what I can to help. Now, what you have at this point is a whole lot of information people have given you. You now need to take some time with everything you have heard about where the plan is going, what's going well, what's not going well, and create your own plan. Now remember, you are here because someone thinks you're good enough. You are here because you are special. You are here because you're the one with the job. And you know what? Even if you got it by accident, get what guess what? It's yours now. So your job is to take a big opportunity and turn it into a win and take it to the next level. Just be your best self. And what you need to do as well is focus on your strengths, don't try to focus on your weakness and say, Oh, I'm gonna what you when you're in somewhere for the first time, you need to go all guns blazing with your strength because when you work on your strengths, you impress people straight away, and you can try and fix your weakness later, okay? And when I say go in there and work, I don't mean just go in there and start talking. A lot of people fall into this trap where they go somewhere and what they do is they talk, they talk, they talk with no visible action. Go in there and do some work, and above all, trust in your abilities, trust in those special abilities you have and make decisions. You can do it. You were selected for a reason. Now just go ahead and show it. Now, one small one small tip I do have though is you don't always have to go in and make big, splashy decisions and doing amazing things. Sometimes just go in there and go for the low-hanging fruits. When we say low-hanging fruits, we mean the quick wins, and that just means sometimes it's the small things, like my example I gave where I just had weekly calls with them. That's a small thing, but it made a big difference. Sometimes just go in and start making small differences that will impress people and make a big difference, and you'll find that you're doing well. That is how you go in and make the perfect takeover. That's how you go in and stamp your feet on the ground and put your mark on everything and show that you're ready, and that's what you can do in this new year where opportunities are going to come your way, and you need to put your best foot forward and take possession and just rock it and win. Alright, that was a quick one. Listen, guys, it can be daunting starting anything or taking over from someone else, and sometimes there can be big shoes to feel, which makes it harder, but sometimes it can be tiny shoes to feel, which you can become overconfident and make a mistake still. But the good thing is, with this, you've given yourself a good chance of success, and I know you're going to do it. So, with that said, I hope you've enjoyed this episode of the You Unleashed, where I share ideas on how to rocket in the workplace and life and everything in general. Now, don't forget to share our podcast with your friends, family, anyone you think we need to take to the next level. And please like our podcast on Apple Play, Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, just leave comments or send them to me directly, and just let us know what you think. Look, we're not where we want to be, but we are definitely better than we used to be. And don't forget, done is better than perfect. And episode 7 is now done, and it's in the books. So get unleashed, stay unleashed, and have an amazing week!