Advice to new CEOs: Seize the moment

“Right from the Start”
Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins
Harvard Business School Press


You are a newly-appointed chief executive officer (CEO) or chief operating officer (COO) of a renowned or new corporation. Or, to be attuned to the post-Edsa II times, you have just been designated head of a huge government bureaucracy or corporation.

As you begin re-arranging the furniture, following your takeover of a post vacated by one retired or fired, how will you begin?

If you heed the advice of the book, “Right from the Start,” you will seize the moment and keep the momentum throughout your tour of duty. Again, to be fashionable, taking off from former Philippine President Ramos and current President Macapagal-Arroyo, you should “hit the ground running.”

This book is about hitting the ground running. From “securing early wins” to “building credibility,” from quickly creating the “center of gravity” to building “islands of excellence,” and from “mapping the new political landscape” to “coalition-building” the book dishes out sound advice.

And since it is shorn of embellishments, stripped of a load of theories, and free from the burden of over-analysis – it can truly be a handbook for any newly anointed chief executive who should be “taking charge.”

The book begins with Hugh, a newly hired President and COO of a private firm, hired by a board of directors who wanted to “shakes things up” and to lead the firm decisively from a lackluster performance in the market toward a bigger share in a growing market.

Hugh, confident of his goals and abilities, proceeded to “fulfill the mandate” of the board, initially jacked up sales, but soon ran head-on with the manufacturing head and the compensation committee chairman. Before he could say “resignation,” he was fired.

The authors are quick to comment that Hugh, while competent, failed to manage the transition, created enemies, and ran smack into some values the corporation holds dear. The book says that a leader riding the transition must have both a “cultural lens” and a “political lens” through which he views the organization he heads to avoid pitfalls that prove to be the undoing of executives like Hugh.

Essentially, the book offers the reader-leader three elements to empower him as the newly appointed executive and who should, therefore, deliver quick results: create momentum, use enabling technologies and managing oneself.

The section on “creating momentum” should serve to jump start'; return true;" style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 3px double; TEXT-DECORATION: none" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;" href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=22&k=jump%20start">jump start his leadership role, which includes valuable tips on beginning with the doables – scoring early victories – with pilot project.

The discussion of identifying the right “center of gravity” – the pivotal decision from where the executive takes his initial shots – is instructive. The “center” gives him focus. To paraphrase an ancient saying, this tip proves once again the statement, “Give me a ground to stand on and I will move the world!” -- or words to that effect.

And as the new CEO or COO moves, he must be resolute, the book points out, quoting U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke who, when he was negotiating the 1996 Bosnian peace talks, said that he was “firm on goals, flexible on means.”

While the new leader moves fast -- much like the ice skater who must keep on moving lest the ice below him crushes – he must also build his political base. “His early wins should help attract political support,” says the book, clarifying though that “political management” is not necessary being “political.”

The newly-anointed leader is also in a unique position where he is “learning” and “doing” at the same time. Through tables and charts, the book indicates how these two parallel actions are achieved simultaneously.

The leader must also engaged in “vision selling” – energizing his second level leaders to accept and commit to his own vision of the organization.

The section on coalition building is a must-read for leaders in transition. Pitfalls, like mines in minefield, abound in the organizational bureaucracy. While there is a coalition in his favor, there would probably be a “blocking coalition.”

The road is not easy, the authors say. “Leadership is never easy. This is never truer than when a new leader enters an organization from the outside and must change its culture in fundamental ways. Regardless of how carefully one prepares for such a task, there are bound to be unexpected twists and turns on the road.” We cannot disagree.

And for the new centurions in government, the generals who now have the plum posts at the top, and yuppies on their way there – this book is as useful as a road map'; return true;" style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 3px double; TEXT-DECORATION: none" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;" href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=22&k=road%20map">road map. No matter how long-winding the road, no matter how obstacles spring up once in a while, no matter how corporate ambuscades are staged – you will survive your first one hundred days if you seize the moment and sustain the momentum. After all, you are at the driver’s seat – a job you know best.