According to Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins, 64 percent of executives hired form the outside won't make it in their new jobs. While executives from within the ranks know the challenges, culture, and politics of a company, newcomers face a corporate minefield.
Right from the Start is Ciampa and Watkins's survival manual for leaders taking starting work at a new company. "Leadership is never easy," they write. "This is never truer than when a new leader enters an organization from the outside and must change its culture in fundamental ways." Through interviews with dozens of corporate leaders who have succeeded or failed in such transitions, the authors provide a strategy for getting it right from the outset.
Ciampa, an independent consultant, and Watkins, a Harvard Business School associate professor, advise three key missions for new leaders: Create momentum; master the ability to learn, convey a vision, and build coalitions; and know and manage yourself well. A fast start is especially crucial. In fact, they say, the most important period starts with the recruitment or interview process and runs through the first six months in a new role. Right from the Start provides plenty of real-life examples of successes and failures, in everything from building coalitions to changing corporate culture. The stories tend to suffer sometimes because the executives remain anonymous. Nonetheless, the book is instructive for business people assuming new management roles. --Dan Ring
"Leadership transition is one of the most important and difficult tasks a manager will face. Ciampa and Watkins' insights-particularly about the 'early days'-and their advice for meeting these challenges are indispensable." -Henry Schacht, Director and Senior Advisor, Lucent Technologies "Ciampa and Watkins' analysis speaks to leadership in the private sector, but every page in the book yields help and insight for those of us in the public or nonprofit world as well. Right from the Start intertwines telling vignettes with advice that leaders will want follow-before it's too late." -Robert L. Gallucci, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, and Dean, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University "This book makes a great gift for friends who have just been appointed to new jobs. Right from the Start covers all the essentials for managing a smooth transition, a process critical to attaining leadership success. Read it now. Then read it again when you get your next promotion." -Major General Perry M. Smith, Author of Rules and Tools for Leaders, and President, Visionary Leadership Ltd. "Right from the Start skips the abstract theories and tired platitudes of so many leadership books and gets to what works-a tried-and-true practical framework for making the bottom line hum. Those who take leadership seriously cannot afford to overlook this book." (Gerard R. Roche, Chairman of the Board, Heidrick & Struggles) "Right from the Start is a superb handbook for executives in transition-a trenchant, engaging, and continuously rewarding guide through the crucial start-up period for a new leader." (Kevin Klose, President and CEO, National Public Radio)