How are you going to manage your personal change?
In 2014 I had an answer ready for every question in a regional director interview except one. Twelve years on, it was the most useful question in that room.
"How are you going to manage your personal change?"
It was 2014. I was interviewed for a regional director role that meant moving from Lahore to Hyderabad, and I had an answer ready for everything else. The 90-day plan, how I would turn the region around, where I would start.
Not for this one. It came from the HR business partner, and I needed a moment with it. What I eventually said was that it would be one of the hardest parts of the move, and that I would not do well in the role unless I managed it.
Twelve years on, I think it was the most useful question in that room.
When we step into a new role, most of our preparation goes into the business. The plan, the numbers, the first wins. The personal side gets treated as logistics. A house, a school, a transfer date.
It was never logistics for me. It was my family starting over in a new city. A culture I didn't know yet. No social circle at all. A team I had never met.
All of that comes to work with you, whether you plan for it or not.
How settled you are shapes how well you lead, in a new role, a new place, a new culture.
I was lucky someone asked me before I moved.
What part of your own personal change did you underestimate when you took on a new role?