Page 239 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

224 Just Promoted!

In this chapter, there is useful information about the following:

■ Preventing future stagnation
■ Fine-tuning your leadership role and your organization
■ SOARING: Sharpening the way you think about your work and
personal life

PREVENTING FUTURE STAGNATION
We have emphasized the just promoted leader’s need to renew the organiza-
tion. To do so requires great effort. In most cases, however, skillfully led
renewal has an uplifting effect. People feel part of something worthwhile. You
might even hear barely audible individual and group sighs of “Finally!”
But planned organizational growth does take a toll in time, effort, and
money. People get tired of meeting to plan and implement change. There
comes a point when they want to get back to doing their jobs full time and
slow the pace of change. This cooldown usually comes after some of the major
change goals have been achieved and while enthusiasm for the new vision,
purpose, and direction is still strong. In many cases, the cooldown occurs dur-
ing the later part of your first year. Subsequent changes will fine-tune the major
changes already made, and they will not jolt the system as much as they did
during the more intense period experienced earlier in the year.
In his 10 months on the job, Jim, the director of a high-tech research and
development center, had overseen the radical streamlining of his organization.
He had selected and personally involved himself in the development of his
new executive team. Two of his five direct reports were new. The executive
team had revised the business plan, which resulted in a reprioritization of the
project portfolio and reallocation of financial and human resources. Resources
formerly devoted to postmarketed product redesign were shifted to new prod-
uct development teams.
The work flow was reorganized, and some formerly consolidated functions
were decentralized. The planning, design, execution, analysis, and documen-
tation of research projects were divided into five work functions, to be per-
formed by specialists in each function. People would specialize in what they
were good at, rather than being responsible for all functions.