Ardent career guru and Fortune contributor, Anne Fisher, recently received request from a would-be executive who will, very soon, be “parachuting in” to rather hazardous territory. Faced with a position captaining a division of a large corporation which has, let’s be real, rather bleak (or dire—take your pick) prospects, this inquirer asks Fisher to help prepare her for the maelstrom of uncertainty into which she will soon be wading. Feeling somewhat ill-trained for this kind of situation, “It’s larger role than I’ve had so far in my career,” the soon-to-be division head says, one wrought with “significant challenges,” as the thunderhead looming over global markets, one creating a permanent climate of financial instability and uncertainty, continues to materialize. “[T]he business I’ll be running has been hit hard by the recession and the European debt crisis, revenues and earnings are down, and morale is in the tank,” she worries. The syllabus Fisher offers is a four-part solution to the many challenges troubling the conscience of this aspiring executive, and constitutes for sage advice for new managers sharing the concerns of Fisher’s worry wart.
- “Meet with critical stakeholders as soon as possible.” Think of it as alliance building, or, perhaps, pointed diplomacy. To be an effective leader one must know not only how to lead, but must have in place a reliable network of stakeholders without whose support one may face administrative inertia.
- “Have a plan for listening and gathering information.” A touchstone of effective leadership is the capacity to listen. No individual has all the answers, and those delusional individuals who purport to, have typically filled very specific roles in human history (dictators or tyrants). Getting to know your new job means listening. Or, as ace executive coach George Bradt puts it, gathering information from multiple sources “is an exercise in understanding people’s views, both on what’s going well and what’s not and why, so that you can work effectively with each of them.”
- “Craft your message.” Every leader needs a good message. Though, I think what Fisher means to say is, “develop a clear plan and adopt a predictable, meticulously thought out persona as an executive”: “Part of preparing to lead is thinking through the message you want to send, right down to details like whether your office setup will be informal and open-door or more formal and structured.”
- “Start making a hundred day plan.” Bradt makes an important distinction: developing a hundred day plan does not mean having all the answers the minute you step into your role, rather, “have a plan in place to learn more.”
Comments are closed.