Page 267 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

252 Just Promoted!

Bob and Linda Doyle
Bob and Linda’s experience is quite typical. One partner, Bob, targeted
and achieved a major career goal. Neither Bob nor Linda anticipated or
CASE STUD Y sonal lives. Bob’s selection to head the research division for a large
planned for the impact of his promotion on their professional and per-

international corporation changed their lives markedly. Unknowingly,
they quickly lost control over several important areas of their lives, with
regrettable consequences.
Bob had an excellent record as a researcher. Over a 12-year period
he had proven himself as a scientist and project team leader, developing
several new products and successfully tackling every challenge set
before him. For the first 6 years after graduate school, Bob was primarily
a bench researcher, participating in the important discoveries that led to
the development of several important products. For the next 3 years, as
a project team leader in charge of five researchers, his team developed
new applications for several company products, increasing the profitabil-
ity and market reach of those products.
At year 10, a change in companies allowed Bob to take over a
research department of about 25 professionals, an opportunity that
broadened his scientific background. While he continued to enjoy the
time he devoted to his research projects, he now had broader leader-
ship and managerial responsibilities.
He did very well at his science and managing his team. He inher-
ited experienced, highly motivated people who presented very few per-
sonnel or administrative problems. They rarely tested his ability as a
manager. The work was well planned and well organized; his teams
were productive and well managed. Bob, now one of his company’s
shining lights, enjoyed management and looked forward to increased
management responsibility. Then came his big opportunity.
Bob’s promotion to vice president of research was, as he described
it, “a high point” in his life. He now directed a division critical to the
company’s future, and he and the division were responsible for bringing
innovative products to the market in the shortest possible period of
time. Bob knew his new division had some problems.