New to leadership or new to an organization or department? If you said yes to either one,  you’ve found yourself in uncharted waters. According to Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger in “For Your Improvement: A Guide for Development and Coaching” the following tips will help shorten the learning curve. 

1. Read the right periodicals: The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Barron’s, and the Harvard Business Review are excellent resources to help get you “in the know” of what’s happening in the business world.
2. Watch the right sources: Check out the cable or satellite TV stations that carry business news and information full time. Catch interviews with business leaders, industry reviews by Wall Street experts, and company reviews.
3. Join national organizations. This is an excellent venue where many top business leaders come and share their thoughts about business. Join your industry association to keep apprised of the latest developments in your field.
4. Study some business books. Go to the business section of your local bookstore and pick three books on general business principles, including ones with a financial focus and another with a marketing slant, and finally one about customer service. Once you have those principles down, go get two or three more books until you have the business knowledge you need. Consider attaining an MBA.
5. Learn the rules of the game. Understand how business operates by learning personal rules of thumb or insights. For example, “What are the drivers in marketing anything?” Use the rules of thumb to analyze a business. What was successful about it? Study two businesses that weren’t successful and see what they didn’t do that made them unsuccessful.
6. Need to know more about your business?  Study your company’s annual report and financial reports. Ask for lunch or a meeting with the person in charge of strategic planning at your company and have him/her explain the company’s strategic plan. Ask him/her to point out the mission-critical functions and capabilities the organization needs to be on the leading edge.
7. Try out some broader tasks. Volunteer to serve on a task force that includes people outside your area of expertise. This could include Total Quality Management, Process Re-engineering, Six Sigma, or ISO projects. Talk with customers. Write down five things you’ve learned about how the business works.
8. Get close to customers. Meet with someone in customer service and have him/her explain the function to you. Consider listening in to customer service calls or maybe handle one or tow.
9. Think outside your part of the business. Things that happen in one part of the business affect the other areas. When you make decisions in your area, consider the possible negative consequences for the other functions. Document what you see as the drivers that run your business and share your conclusions with those from other functions to see how your drivers affect them.
10. Learn to think as an expert. Talk to experts inside your company or external consultants and ask what the keys they look for and notice what they see as significant and not. With that information, come up with five key areas or questions to consider each time a business issue comes up.