In the world of Corporations, everything changes sooner or later – targets move as the environment shifts, organisational structures change to support efficient operations, policies and processes get updated, people come and go. Nothing is fixed and permanent. Neither is your employment with a current corporation.

However, if you have no plans of leaving your current employer and moving on for good, you’d better learn to adapt quickly to the changing conditions. Change Management is getting too popular nowadays. There are tons of adverts for professionals with change management experience that would help organisations and people adapt. Organisations most often do, but people sometimes fail. They leave disappointed, and when they do, someone new steps in to inherit a certain mess and deal with it.

Herewith, we’ll focus on what happens when a leader leaves the organisation and how to welcome their replacement. This is a pretty standard, yet quite an intriguing scenario, mostly because new leaders usually drive more changes once they’ve settled in their new roles. Employees expect these changes and usually try to be a step ahead of others, making proper introduction to the new boss, demonstrating the value they add, becoming trusted advisors from day one and thus securing their job. Often this happens despite others, i.e. other colleagues and their contribution may be purposefully diminished by those with direct access to the boss, purely to eliminate competition. This is not a situation where Corporate Bohemians would like to find themselves.

Reasons why it is likely for bohemians to end up being left out of the new boss’s reach include:

• They are not designed to flatter others – the bohemian nature and attitude suggests high self-esteem, some criticism and even cynicism. How would flattery and hypocrisy possibly fit in this scheme?
• They rely that their high-quality work speaks for itself – intelligence and quality are a definite plus, however it is not to underestimate the power of demonstration. Who would demonstrate the value of your work better than yourself?
• They think they’re popular enough across the business – until they realise that most of their senior stakeholders have either left, or moved on working in completely different area. So who would introduce you to the new boss then?

In the first weeks, it is critical that you plan how to approach the newcomer. This means – try to go ahead, and not behind the rest. Indeed, it may be a hard thing to do, especially if other colleagues are better placed to have imminent access to the boss. But, hey, all you need is one hour – enough time to present yourself, understand what challenges the boss is facing and set the terms on which you’ll be working together to have fun and work on some fancy projects that motivate you. Remember – you must stand out of the crowd, as you are different anyway. You have quite a fancy life outside of work, and in order to keep your happiness intact, you must maintain your work-life in a good interesting shape too. The worst-case scenario is to end up picking up dull project leftovers after all the flatterers have passed by the new boss’s office.

Fast-track rules to successful introduction include:

• Book your one-to-one meeting early enough; also check-in with the boss’s PA if there are any introductory events planned, i.e. dinners, drinks, etc. Beware that other colleagues may want to limit the invitation lists, so make sure you have your place. After all, you are a Bohemian, you’re best at parties. Regardless how much you dislike corporate gatherings, go to that first one.
• Prepare for your one-to-one with the new boss. Below is the sanitary minimum of what’s needed:
  • Your elevator pitch, i.e. your shiny spot-on presentation on who you are (background, achievements) and what great stuff you are doing
  • Strategic outlook & the Top 3 things you can immediately deliver for the boss that are highly important for the overall business strategy
  • Most important – prepare to encourage the boss to share who they are as people, so that you can relate to the on personal level and move away from being one of many assets; prepare to ask what they really need and listen what they say; prepare to think fast to align your Top 3 (from the above) with their priorities.
• Important rule is to disregard gossip, but make sure you are aware of it.

Once you’ve managed to establish the good rapport and set the right expectations with the new boss, things will be easier. You can also reply on the feedback from other senior stakeholders to help shape your profile with this person. Hopefully, the new boss is also a Corporate Bohemian! That means you’ve got lucky! The opposite scenario is not ideal, but manageable, as soon as you set yourself up for success!