More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Leaders, regardless of their level, are most vulnerable in their first few months in a new position because they lack detailed knowledge of the challenges they will face and what it will take to succeed in meeting them; they also have not yet developed a network of relationships to sustain them.
Nelson Hochman liked this
Transitions are periods of opportunity, a chance to start afresh and to make needed changes in an organization. But they are also periods of acute vulnerability, because you lack established working relationships and a detailed understanding of your new role.
your goal should be to arrive as rapidly as possible at the breakeven point, where you are a net contributor of value to your new organization
The reality is that the process of leading change often occurs in tandem with a leader’s transition into a new role.
the root causes of transition failure always lie in a pernicious interaction between the situation, with its opportunities and pitfalls, and the individual, with his or her strengths and vulnerabilities.
Transition failures happen when new leaders either misunderstand the essential demands of the situation or lack the skill and flexibility to adapt to them.
The second proposition is that there are systematic methods that leaders can employ to both lessen the likelihood of failure and reach the breakeven point faster.
The key, then, is to match your strategy to the situation. This is a core theme to which we will return throughout the book.
The third proposition is that the overriding goal in a transition is to build momentum by creating virtuous cycles that build credibility and by avoiding getting caught in vicious cycles that damage credibility.
Leadership is about leverage. The new leader is, after all, just one person. To be successful, she will have to mobilize the energ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
The fourth proposition is that transitions are a crucible for leadership development and should be managed accordingly.
fifth and final proposition is that adoption of a standard framework for accelerating transitions can yield big returns for organizations.
the failure rate for new leaders who enter organizations from the outside is high.
Executives from outside the company are not as familiar with the organizational structure and the existence of informal networks of information and communication.
Outside hires are not familiar with the corporate culture and therefore have greater difficulty assimilating.
Nelson Hochman liked this
New people are unknown to the organization and therefore do not have the same credibility as someone...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
A long tradition of hiring from within makes it difficult for organizations to adjust to senior-level manage...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
Promote yourself. This doesn’t mean hiring your own publicist. It means making the mental break from your old job and preparing to take charge in the new one.
understanding its markets, products, technologies, systems, and structures, as well as its culture and politics.
Match strategy to situation.
Secure early wins.
Early wins build your credibility and create momentum. They create virtuous cycles that leverage the energy you are putting into the organization to create a pervasive sense that good things are happening.
Negotiate success.
Achieve alignment.
Build your team.
Create coalitions.
Keep your balance.
Expedite everyone. Finally, you need to help everyone in your organization—direct reports, bosses, and peers—accelerate their own transitions.
“Promoting yourself ” does not mean self-serving grandstanding or hiring a PR firm. It means preparing yourself mentally to move into your new role by letting go of the past and embracing the imperatives of the new situation to give yourself a running start.
Begin by thinking about your first day in the new job. What do you want to do by the end of that day? Then move to the first week. Then focus on the end of the first month, the second month, and finally the three-month mark.
One way to pinpoint your vulnerabilities is to assess your problem preferences—the kinds of problems toward which you naturally gravitate.
In what spheres do you most enjoy solving problems? In what spheres are you least eager to solve problems? What are the implications for potential vulnerabilities in your new position?
You can do a lot to compensate for your vulnerabilities. Three basic tools are self-discipline, team building, and advice and counsel.
Though clearly a strength, attention to detail has a downside, especially in tandem with a high need for control: The result may be a tendency to micromanage
Having to start learning again can evoke long-buried and unnerving feelings of incompetence and vulnerability,
As you are progressively promoted, however, it becomes increasingly important to get good political counsel and personal advice.
Political counselors help you understand the politics of the organization, which is especially important when you plan to implement change.
Personal advisers help you keep perspective and equilibrium ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
If you don’t establish limits early, you will live to regret it.
To borrow an old saw, promoting yourself is a journey and not a destination. You will have to work constantly to ensure that you are engaging with the real challenges of your new position and not practicing what Ron Heifetz terms “work avoidance.”6 It is easy to backslide into habits that are both comfortable and dangerous. Plan to reread this chapter and its questions periodically, asking, “Am I doing all that I can to promote myself?”
What has made you successful so far in your career? Can you succeed in your new position by relying solely on those strengths? If not, what are the critical skills you need to develop?
Are there aspects of your new job that are critical to success but that you prefer not to focus on? Why is that the case? How will you compensate for your potential blind spots?
What do you need to do to ensure that you make the mental leap into the new position? From whom might you seek advice and counsel on this? What ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
It is essential to figure out what you need to know about your new organization and then to learn it as rapidly as you can. Why? Because efficient and effective learning reduces your window of vulnerability: You can identify potential problems that might erupt and take you off track.
Planning to learn means figuring out in advance what the important questions are and how you can best answer them.
A baseline question that every new leader should ask is, “How did we get to this point?”
Other new leaders suffer from the action imperative, a learning disability whose primary symptom is a near-compulsive need to take action.
Even in situations (such as turnarounds) in which you have been brought in explicitly to import new ways of doing things, you still have to learn about the organization’s culture and politics to customize your approach.
displaying a genuine ability to listen often translates into increased credibility and influence.
