Your Next Move: The first few months

SECOND post: Review of Your Next Move: According to a survey of HR professionals, 70% agree that the first few months after a promotion determine ultimate success or failure at a job. In short, if there’s a bad few months, life gets tougher (vicious vs virtuous cycle). His advice in general: 1) Organize what you need to learn; 2) Prioritize your list; 3) Define your strategic intent/vision; 4)Assess and build your own team; 5)Plan your steps for success; 6)Secure some early wins; 7) Create supportive alliances.

Your Next Move: Surviving your next promotion

Michael Watkins has done it again with his latest book: Your Next Move (Harvard Business Press, 2009). A former professor at both the Business School and the Kennedy School at Harvard, Watkins scores a winner with his new transition book—which follows on the heels of his best seller The First 90 Days. With this new book, Watkins “officially” becomes THE guy when it comes to professional transitions. In fact, I think this book will get greater play than ...90 Days because it’s about all the most common types of promotional challenges such as, leading former peers, the international promotion/move, the realignment promotion, the turnaround promotion, and the on-boarding promotion. If you know someone either in the midst of a new challenge/promotion transition, this would make a great holiday gift. If not, just wait a year or two, and they’ll need it (transition is inevitable)! This week I’ll be reviewing Your Next Move in some detail in a series of posts.

HBR Briefs: Emotions in Business

LAST Post about HBR Briefs for November: “Why Repressing Emotions is Bad for Business” (Daniel Shapiro) A lot of leaders who have to make tough choices, especially in these uncertain times, think that they must divorce emotions from their communication style: WRONG. Shapiro’s research offers this bottom line: “Emotional investment can improve your relationships, increase trust, and promote satisfying, enduring agreements.” According to Shapiro, emotions [especially negative ones] arise from predictable concerns from a lack of: appreciation, affiliation, autonomy, status, and role (change). He provides two brief but powerful examples of how people were laid off from two different companies. One layoff was done with respect, care and concern. The other, done unemotionally, cold, and uncaring. Take a guess at who threatened to sue the company!