Executive Counselling - Accelerated Onboarding - Breakthrough Leadership – Leadership Advisory – Coaching
Executives who take on new positions face a transition period, during which they must establish their leadership
and remain humble in their lack of knowledge. The field of investigation is vast ( culture, processes, strategies, ... )
and newly named executives often want to break even as soon as possible and create value.
Experience shows us that a new job really begins during the initial interviews for the position. Candidates who succeed in assuming their new duties have prepared themselves by getting to know about the company ahead of time. They have not hesitated to go in-depth, asking friends, relations, and the firm’s competitors questions such as: How does the general public view the company? What are the company’s culture and values, and how is it run? Is the company open to change? How does it innovate? Does its culture allow it to evolve?
They can improve their chances of making the transition a smooth one by learning from their peers and soliciting their mentor.
At bechtel-consulting, we continue our collaboration with the client and the candidate once the candidate has joined the organization to help ensure the candidate’s successful integration into the new company.
CEO onboarding keys to CEO Success
Becoming a CEO means reaching a milestone. It is the culmination of a career and a life’s work and, for many, represents the ultimate achievement. It is a new stage that is incommensurate with anything that has gone before.
When interviewed, CEOs who are newly appointed or have held the position for several years demonstrate a high level of confidence in their skills and ability to meet the demands of the role. As they say, “Being a CEO is something that you have to prepare for, but you cannot truly understand it unless you have actually experienced it.” This might seem a bit out of character for high-level managers who have been trained to keep their vulnerabilities to themselves.
Onboarding, breaking even and creating value - Accelerated onboard
The priority for newly named CEOs is to break even as soon as possible. In other words, they must reach the moment when they bring as much value to their new company as they have received from it. When CEOs are asked to estimate how much time it takes for a recently promoted or hired executive to attain his or her break-even point, the average answer is 6.2 months.* This number depends, of course, on the situation that a CEO inherits. If there is a need to turn around a company in crisis, new CEOs create value as soon as they begin the position. However, when an external candidate is recruited by a very successful company, it takes longer for a CEO to break even. No matter what the situation may be, the objective remains the same: waste no time on getting settled in and start creating value.
Digital Transformation, when digital and cultural transformation go hand in hand
A Global Chief Digital Officer reports
Digital transformation goes beyond introducing new technology, and if it is to succeed, it must be accompanied by a deep change in corporate culture. We asked a Global CDO about setting up a business strategy in a company that is large in terms of both its headcount and revenue.
What was your mission when you were named Global CDO?
“It was essential for me to convince the firm that IT in general and especially digital processes and forms of distribution (such as e-commerce) are not just cost centers, which is how IT tends to be viewed, but would, instead, allow us to increase sales and profitability.”
What main innovations did you introduce?
“One significant innovation was setting up a centralized DaaS (data as a service) for high-quality and internationally up-to-date product data and supplier information to be used by the group’s different companies.”
Which aspect of your leadership skills did you work on in order to achieve your goals with the board of directors, your team, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders?
“The most important part was — and still is — having a personal power of persuasion and an ability to generate enthusiasm. To do that, you need to get the initial results of projects quite quickly. Digital transformation is more of a cultural matter. It cannot be grasped correctly by focusing only on new technology products.”
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