Some Tips From CEOs To Help You to Make
With the new year looming, it is time for resolutions about making changes in our work and personal lives. Managers who want to revitalize their careers and achieve more in 2005 can look for inspiration to top executives who have had to prove themselves quickly in new jobs.
For newly named CEOs, especially, the first 100 days at the top are a pivotal time to make a mark. "You have to establish a sense of confidence with everyone you interact with," says James Citrin, a senior director at executive recruiter Spencer Stuart and co-author with Spencer Stuart's U.S. chairman, Thomas J. Neff, of the new book "You're in Charge -- Now What?" Adds Mr. Neff: "You have to show credibility quickly and then build momentum."
Here are some lessons from CEOs on how you can make your own fresh start:
Do Your Homework
In the three weeks before he took over as CEO of Motorola last January, Edward Zander read everything he could about the company and its competitors. He also talked with former Motorola executives and CEOs at other companies to deepen his knowledge about both Motorola and the challenges of running any big global company. "I wanted information about the company, the industry and the personal side of being a CEO," he says. The beginning of a new year is a good time for managers everywhere to immerse themselves in information about their businesses.
Listen more than lecture
In his first weeks on the job, Mr. Zander talked in person with about 50 customers around the world, as well as his top management team. "I decided that before I was going to fire or sell anything, I was going to live in the [Motorola] house," he says. "And no matter what I'd heard about anyone, I wanted to start with a clean bill and evaluate them myself." By taking a fresh look, he says, he found some staffers had more talent than he'd expected, while "others lacked what the company needed,"
Similarly, Kevin Sharer interviewed the top 100 executives at Amgen after he became CEO in 2000 -- even though he'd already been company president for the prior eight years. "Whether or not you are new to the company, you have to bring a new set of eyes," he says.
He asked each executive five questions: "What do you want to keep? What do you want to change? What do you want me to do? What are you afraid I'll do? What else do you want to ask me?"
He says he learned two key things: His subordinates were in quiet agreement about who was ineffective -- which gave him the impetus to make some management changes. "And they all wanted an aspiration beyond earning higher profits," he says. Together they agreed to try to make Amgen "the best therapeutic company" as it changed from relying on the dialysis market to entering more competitive drug markets.
Be a Problem Solver
When Jonathan Miller became CEO of Time Warner's AOL division in 2002, he knew he had to repair the angry feelings of other Time Warner executives about the troubled online company. In his first meetings with them, he compared his situation to the experience of getting a car towed in New York. "When that happens, you have to wait in a long line and when you finally get to the clerk, you're ready to take his head off," he said. "But there's a sign in the clerk's window that says, 'the people here didn't tow your car and they're here to help you get it back,' " he told them. Then he added that he wanted to get AOL back on track. "That car-towing story just came to me," he says, "but after I said it, everyone laughed, and it felt right."
Set Achievable Goals
Don't overpromise or try to do too much. "My bandwidth is five-bullet points wide," says Mr. Miller. One of his first priorities was to move AOL into the broadband market. "The entire world was going in that direction, but AOL executives were still debating it when I arrived," he says. Another goal was turning around advertising, which had slumped badly. AOL expects to report about $1 billion in ad revenue for 2004, up substantially from two years ago, when he arrived. "But I never publicly forecast that kind of growth," says Mr. Miller. "Doing so would have been betting, and if we hadn't made the numbers, we would have no credibility."
Make Certain You Have the Best Possible Team
Soon after Richard Parsons took over as CEO of Time Warner in 2002, he named Don Logan and Jeffrey Bewkes as his two top operations executives. "People [down the ranks] had a lot of confidence in them, and it sent a message that I wasn't fooling around," says Mr. Parsons.
If you hire or retain "B" and "C" players, you'll be surrounded by mediocrity. But "A" players have to learn to work as a team. Amgen's Mr. Sharer says he brought together his top 26 executives when he became CEO and announced: "If there are any politicians in this room, I will figure out who you are and I will fire you."
Trust Your Gut
Motorola's Mr. Zander recalls how during his first few months as CEO, "I spent a lot of nights staring out the window of my office and talking to myself." He didn't feel comfortable discussing sensitive company issues with outsiders, hadn't yet assembled a close senior management team and missed his longtime executive assistant. (She has since followed him to Motorola.) He says he felt lonely, but "I knew I had to believe in myself because the best decisions come from educated gut instinct."
CEO们告诉你如何启动新的开始
新的一年来临了，是时候为自己的工作和生活打算打算了。希望在2005年事业更上一层楼、取得更大成就的经理人，可以从那些在新的职位上迅速展现才能的高层领导者身上借鉴经验。
对那些刚被任命为首席执行长的人来说，到任的头100天是树立威信尤为关键的时期。“你要和与你接触过的每个人建立信任”，经理人猎头公司Spencer Stuart的高层主管詹姆斯?西翠恩(James Citrin)说。西翠恩还和Spencer Stuart美国的董事长托马斯?纳夫(Thomas J. Neff)共同撰写新书--《现在你是头儿了--该怎么办？》(You're in Charge -- Now What?)。纳夫补充说，新领导人应当尽快建立威信，为开展工作做好准备。
下面是一些CEO的经验，可以帮助你有一个不错的开始：
做好充分准备
去年一月份，在艾德华?桑德尔(Edward Zander)即将担任摩托罗拉(Motorola)首席执行长的三周前，他阅读了所有他可以找到的、有关摩托罗拉及其竞争对手的资料。他还与摩托罗拉以前的管理人士和其他公司的首席执行长交谈，希望了解这家公司的更多信息以及领导一家全球性的大企业将会面临的种种挑战。“我希望获得任何有关摩托罗拉及其所在行业的信息，想知道首席执行长的生活是怎样的。”他说。新年伊始是所有经理人了解更多业务信息的好时候。
少说多听
桑德尔到任后的第一周，他亲自与全球大约50个客户进行了交流，还与他手下的高层管理者进行了沟通。“在我要解雇某人或是销售任何产品前，我先要融入这个公司，”他说。“不管我听到关于任何人的什么传闻，我都会根据自己的判断去评估他们”。他说，经过一番重新审视，他发现有些员工比他预期得要能干，而有些人却缺乏公司所需要的才能。
Amgen首席执行长凯文?沙尔(Kevin Sharer)在2000年上任后也与100名高层人员进行了交流，尽管之前的8年他一直担任这家公司的总裁。他说：“不管你是不是新来到这家公司，都应当用新的眼光去看待事物”。
他问了每个管理人士五个问题：“你认为哪些是应当继续保留的？哪些是应该改革的？你希望我做什么？你不希望我做什么？你有什么问题想问我？”
他说，他从中了解了两件很重要的事情：对于谁的工作效率低，下属们的看法都形成了无声的共识，这促使他决定对管理层进行调整。“他们都希望公司除了赚取更多的利润外，能够有更大的发展”，他说。大家达成共识，要把Amgen发展成最好的公司，不再单一依靠透析市场，要进入更具有竞争力的药物市场。
切实解决问题
当乔纳森?米勒(Jonathan Miller)2002年成为时代华纳(Time Warner)旗下美国在线业务(AOL)首席执行长的时候，他知道他必须平息时代华纳内部其他高管对业绩不佳的美国在线的不满情绪。在初次与这些管理人士会晤时，他把自己的处境比喻成在纽约遭遇拖车。“当车被拖走后，你不得不排长队等候办理领车手续。等轮到你时，你已经准备好了要把一肚子气都撒在办事人员的头上，”他说，”不过，在办事人员窗口上贴著一句话，‘并不是此处的办事人员拖走了您的汽车，他们正在帮您把车领回来’”。他告诉时代华纳的管理人士，他希望带领美国在线回到正常的轨道上来。“我是临时才想起这个拖车故事的”，他说，“当我讲完以后，所有的人都笑了，气氛好多了”。
设定可实现的目标
不要承诺过多的事情或是试图做过多的事情。“我们的带宽简直太窄了，”米勒说。他首先要做的事情之一就是让美国在线进入宽带市场。“整个世界都在朝这个方向发展，但我上任的时候美国在线的管理层居然还在讨论该不该这样做”，他说。米勒的另一个目标是提振广告业务，他上任前广告量大幅减少。美国在线预计2004财年的广告收入有望达到10亿美元，较两年前他刚来时有大幅的增长。“但我从来不公开做什么增长预测”，米勒说，“做预测就是打赌，假如不能实现预测的增长，我们就会丧失信誉”。
倾力打造最好的团队
理查德?帕森思(Richard Parsons)在2002年当上时代华纳的首席执行长后，他任命唐?罗根(Don Logan)和杰佛瑞?毕科斯(Jeffrey Bewkes)二人负责运营。“下面的人对这两个人很有信心，这样做传达的信号是我可不是吊儿郎当混事的。”
如果你任用或是留著那些“B”或“C”级的人物，你的周围就都是些庸才。不过，“A级”人物也要学会如何在团体中工作。Amgen的沙尔在成为首席执行长后将26位高管召集在一起宣布说，“如果这个房间里有任何人搞政治手段这套东西，我会把你找出来，开除出公司。”
相信你的直觉
摩托罗拉的桑德尔回忆当上首席执行长的最初几个月时说，“有好个晚上，我在从办公室里望著窗外自言自语”。他不想和外人谈论敏感的公司事情，但那时他还没有建立起和自己贴心的管理圈子，他很想念以前的助手。（她后来也随著桑德尔加入了摩托罗拉。）他说他觉得很孤独，但“我知道我应该相信自己，一个接受过优秀训练的人可以凭著他的直觉做出最好的决策”。
