When you are hired as a CEO or senior executive, you will naturally want to add value and assure your employers and employees that you are the right hire.
But transitioning into new organisations has a few common traps in which new executives tend to fall in, even as they try to solve problems, make decisions, and improve the company.
Your long list of accomplishments got you hired into a new organisation. But once you are inside, the very things people were attracted to may no longer hold as much appeal.
Increase your odds of success by watching out for common traps and taking the time to learn about your new organisation and its people before you act.
Fortunately, there are ways to sidestep these traps so you can assimilate successfully into your new organisation.
* Propose a new vision for the organisation immediately. As a new executive, you are likely excited about your new job and have a lot of ideas. But there may be valid reasons why your ideas haven’t been implemented yet.
While you might have some ideas that you are eager to share, it’s important to absorb the landscape from your unique vantage point — an outsider — first.
Communicating a big vision sets in motion many resources that are required to execute it.
If you don’t like how something is done, ask what else has been tried. You might be surprised to learn your ideas have already been tried, and even if they haven’t, taking this approach helps to further shape, deepen, and sharpen your vision.
* Once your predecessor’s tenure was near its end, many major decisions were likely put on hold. By the time you join, the organisation may seem ready to burst with pending decisions. But just as you should wait to implement a new vision, you should hold off making long-lasting decisions until you know more.
But transitioning into new organisations has a few common traps in which new executives tend to fall in, even as they try to solve problems, make decisions, and improve the company.
Your long list of accomplishments got you hired into a new organisation. But once you are inside, the very things people were attracted to may no longer hold as much appeal.
Increase your odds of success by watching out for common traps and taking the time to learn about your new organisation and its people before you act.
Fortunately, there are ways to sidestep these traps so you can assimilate successfully into your new organisation.
* Propose a new vision for the organisation immediately. As a new executive, you are likely excited about your new job and have a lot of ideas. But there may be valid reasons why your ideas haven’t been implemented yet.
While you might have some ideas that you are eager to share, it’s important to absorb the landscape from your unique vantage point — an outsider — first.
Communicating a big vision sets in motion many resources that are required to execute it.
If you don’t like how something is done, ask what else has been tried. You might be surprised to learn your ideas have already been tried, and even if they haven’t, taking this approach helps to further shape, deepen, and sharpen your vision.
* Once your predecessor’s tenure was near its end, many major decisions were likely put on hold. By the time you join, the organisation may seem ready to burst with pending decisions. But just as you should wait to implement a new vision, you should hold off making long-lasting decisions until you know more.
Create an interim decision-making process and ensure transparency. Set expectations that these decisions are only interim, and you might change course after the first quarter, once you have gathered more information.
* Tell people how you did things better in your previous organisation.
While you have been hired for your experience and track record, once you are on board, your new colleagues won’t want to hear how you did things better in your previous organisation.
They believe their company is different and that you don’t know enough about them right away to criticise.
Instead, share your own experience sparingly. If you must talk about how to do something differently, suggest it directly — but only after you have asked enough questions to understand the company’s unique situation and allowed others to share their opinions.
* Prioritise external relationships over internal ones. With press releases about your new role, it’s natural for people outside the company to want to connect with you. But by focusing too much attention to external contacts, you may lose a chance to form critical connections internally and better understand what you are representing and how to do so.
Listen internally first. One way to intentionally listen is to go on a listening tour. Ask your direct reports to list a few dozen people within the organisation who would be helpful to connect with.
* At first you may not know who to go to for help. You may not want to look indecisive by asking others for advice. And with the pressure to get work done fast, you may skip delegating work to others, inadvertently signaling that you don’t trust them. This creates tension with your people, and you may also miss out on valuable knowledge others have to share.
To increase your chance of success in your first quarter, create a support team to help you.
Courtesy: www.hbr.org
