Leadership transitions

On this blog, I’ve speculated on the factors that lead to highly talented women dropping out of their once-chosen careers and thus not being available to take the next step, leading to one consequence that these folks are not available in the pool of candidates for top jobs. With this as backdrop, it was fascinating […]

In business, one must always look at possible upsides. Even with all the dire predictions about what could happen in North Korea after the sudden death of its “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il, this event could possibly pave the way for South Korean and foreign companies to make new inroads into the reclusive country. The […]

Last spring Brett Favre pulled the plug on his pro football career, saying that he didn’t have the heart to play any longer. This July he’s had a change of heart. This is not the first time Favre has changed his mind about retirement. But what’s different this time is that his team, the Green […]

How one architecture and engineering firm does it.

Most new leaders err too far in one direction or the other.

Questions to ask when you’re going through transitions.

Start by recognizing when it's time for one.

The biggest mistakes I see executives make when hired in from the outside are (1) trying to recreate the organizations they left behind and (2) overestimating their change mandates. Both set up vicious cycles that can end in outright derailment for the new leader. And you can usually see these problems start during the recruiting […]

Here’s how to “inboard” them.

Emphasize learning, not just doing.

As with most mergers, the announcement this week that United Airlines was joining forces with Continental Airlines to become the world’s largest airline touted all of the benefits of the combination: Complementary routes that will give consumers more choice and flexibility; scale that will provide cost synergies; and resources that will allow for strategic investments. […]

You'll learn something new from every manager you have.

When do leaders become management tourists? By “tourists,” I mean leaders who occupy positions for too short a time to have a positive impact, and who may in fact do significant damage to their organizations. I got to thinking about this after a recent conversation with a manager at a Fortune 100 bank. Her group […]

Overcommunicate, for a start.

You can’t expect to just step into mom or dad’s shoes.

A Spencer Stuart survey of nearly 200 directors and 30 CEOs of S&P 500 companies zeroed in on where trust is built — and where it’s lost.

I recently had a chance to sit down with Michael Watkins, a leadership transitions expert and the cofounder of Genesis Advisers, to talk about “Picking the Right Transition Strategy,” the article we worked on for the January 2009 Harvard Business Review special issue on leadership transitions. Listen to the interview with Michael Watkins. Download this […]

Back in 1997, I was working on a newspaper which supported Tony Blair’s election campaign and included colleagues who went on to join Blair’s inner circle. The optimism and excitement during election night exploded as it became clear that the young moderniser of Britain’s Labour Party had won a landslide victory. These were heady days […]

Having read every posting and response so far in the debate, I see that everyone has naturally focused either on the moral and practical appropriateness...

You can't avoid them.