First Day: Goals, Not Tasks

Swamped. Deluged. Inundated.

It wasn’t even lunchtime on my first day and I was already overwhelmed by the information coming at me. Re-learning how a PC works (I’m a Mac person), finding all the marketing archives, remembering a dozen names, and locating the coffee machine.

In this turbulent environment, it was very tempting to grab on to something concrete, to get my hands on some project that I could dive right into, to hang onto something that would keep me afloat for these first few days.

One of the directors showed me around the office, describing a handful of such opportunities: revising a poster template for clients, cataloguing media mentions, designing a Web-based map of their work, revising a graph of their impact on communities.

However, I had to remind myself that doing these tasks is not the real reason that I am here. As the communications director, I am here to formulate a strategy, articulate a vision, and set priorities. As interesting as it would be to dive right in to revising the web site, I need to focus on the “Why?” question first. My job is to strategize first, execute second.

Therefore, in these first few days and weeks (and beyond), I have to remember that the way to keep my head above water is to focus on where I’m going with this communications program, not grabbing on to the nearest life raft. My mantra: Goals, not tasks.