Here’s a lighthearted list of bullet points (but serious, nevertheless).
If you are a new CEO, could any of these be a problem in your organization? How are you going to tackle them?
Or are you one of the employees? If so, are you giving your new CEO a fair chance?
1. Someone else had aspirations for your job, didn't get it, and concluded that the selection process had serious flaws.
2. Blame MUST fall on someone, and because you're the biggest beneficiary of the company, you are the biggest target.
3. Your style of leadership or rumored future plans could be the problem. Even if you made NO indication of any future plans, rest assured the rumor mill is alive and well.
4. Someone in the company knows you from another company situation or from within the company, and got to know you during your climb up the ladder. His 'memories' of you are more like nightmares. He might have even worked for you at a previous company.
5. Concern you will bring in a new team and replace current management, which could involve new hires or people from your old company.
6. Your real or rumored lifestyle may offend certain people in the company.
7. You seem so different from their beloved previous leader that you can't be any good.
8. You come from another industry and don't understand what "our industry" and "our culture" are all about.
9. No-one really knows what you're going to do, how you're going to act, or what policies you will follow, but everyone knows that in spite of that, it will be and has to be stopped!
10. You may already know an executive in the company and you may not think very highly of him. In all probability, he will know this, too, and be part of an 'undercurrent' problem you experience with him because he will be concerned that you will readily replace him.
About the Author:
Neil Giarratana spent 32 years as a CEO in diverse industries, including cosmetics, toys, leather goods, and durable goods manufacturing. As the senior executive, he managed companies both in Europe (he is fluent in German and French) and the United States. He holds a BA in international relations from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Neil currently resides in the Chicago area.
In his book, CEO Priorities (Career Press), Giarratana shares "conduct and survival related" insights and recommendations aimed at providing future and current CEOs with the means to be on the positive side of the "popular opinion" equation, and thereby reduce or eliminate the disdain factor omnipresent in today's discussion of business leadership.
