The action: Write a couple of paragraphs on what you will commit to as a leader. This is your promise to the team, and helps build psychological safety.

The long-form: You are new, and no-one knows what they can expect from you. By making a written promise and explanation of your leadership styles you are decreasing everyone’s stress levels. You increase transparency and help establish the new ground rules.

If you want to expand on this, there is research to suggest that team contracts/charters – a written understanding between team members, is also useful.

The example: Matthew Rechs wrote a great example on Twitter:

1. We’ll have a weekly 1:1. I’ll never cancel this meeting, but you can cancel it whenever you like. It’s your time.
2. Our 1:1 agenda will be in the meeting invite so we remember important topics. But you’re always free to use the time for whatever’s on your mind.
3. When I schedule a meeting with you, I’ll always say *when I schedule it* what it’s meant to be about. I will not schedule meetings without an agenda.
4. When I drop into your Direct Messages’s, I’ll always say “hi and why.” No suspense, no small talk while you are wondering what I want.
5. News or announcements that significantly impact you, your work, or your team will come from me directly in a 1:1, not revealed in a big meeting.
6. You’ll get feedback from me when it’s fresh. There will be no feedback in your performance review that you’re hearing for the first time.
7. I trust you to manage your own time. You don’t need to clear with me in advance your time Away From Keyboard or Out Of Office.
8. Your work gets done your way. My focus is on outcomes, not output. Once we’re clear on where we need to go, how to get there is up to you. If I ever find it necessary to suggest a specific approach, I will supply an example.
9. A team is strongest when it’s working together, looking after one another, and taking care of each other. Please look to your left and to your right for opportunities to help your colleagues. Please ask for help when you need it. Nobody works alone.
10. I trust you to skip level and talk to my manager or other senior management about anything you feel is relevant. You don’t need to clear it with me, and I’m not going to get weird about it when you do.
11. I will attribute credit appropriately to you and your team. I will never exaggerate my own role or minimize your contribution. I’ll be especially certain to nail down attribution when senior management are hearing of our accomplishments.

Read more: